Double Trouble
by sweeet-as-honey
Summary: Cal and Ethan experience feelings of attraction towards their patients and their feelings appear to be returned. But they're all in for a few surprises.
1. Chapter 1

_This is a birthday fic for the very lovely **Tato Potato** and **beckyboogle**. It was supposed to be a one-shot, but I've written three chapters and it's nowhere near the end so I think it's going to be another long one. I'll try to update every day until it's finished, but I can't promise. I'm a bit worried it's medically dodgy and full of plot holes, but the only thing that really matters is that you enjoy it. I named the OCs after characters you've written about on the grounds that you probably like the names._

 _Happy Birthday :)_

* * *

"Sarah, what are you doing?" said Emma. "Get down from there!"

Sarah was balanced precariously on the high wall that separated the house they shared from the one next door."I thought I might be able to see into Dominic's bedroom from here."

"Sarah, I told you," said Emma. "He's gay. He's also more than likely at work."

Her heart was in her mouth as Sarah rose on tiptoes. "Oh my God: what is _that_?"

"I don't care what it is," said Emma. "Just please come down! Carefully."

"I think he's got a naked inflatable man in his room!" said Sarah, almost dancing about on the wall.

Emma's voice rose with something close to hysteria. "I don't care if he's got a naked _real_ man in his room! Just please get down here before you kill yourself."

Sarah sighed. "It's not even that far down. It's only about four feet."

"More like six," said Emma. "But that's just on our side. It must be nearer fifteen feet on their side."

"No way is it fifteen feet." Sarah looked downwards, presumably so she could make a proper estimate, and froze. "Oh my God, Emma: I'm about a hundred feet up in the air!"

"It's okay," said Emma. "Just come down now and you'll be fine."

"I can't." Sarah's voice was barely audible. "I can't move, Emma. If I move, I'll fall."

* * *

The ED was overrun. The waiting room was crawling with patients, many of them time-wasters. Cal sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. What he really wanted was to sneak off on a booty call, but even if he'd had a girlfriend at the moment, it wouldn't be easy getting out past the swarms of people.

He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see his brother. "How are you holding up?" said Ethan.

"With difficulty," said Cal.

Ethan's worried eyes examined Cal's face. "How's your head?"

"Banging," said Cal. "Unlike me last night."

"Maybe you should have a break," said Ethan.

Cal indicated the waiting room with a weary hand. "Can you see Connie letting me have a break?"

Ethan looked sympathetic. "When can you have another tablet?"

"Not for two hours," sighed Cal. "Seriously, Ethan, when it's a hangover, it almost seems fair enough. At least I had a good time the night before. But what did I do to deserve this?"

"Well, booking a head, neck shoulder massage with a masseur who's already made it very clear she's not interested does kind of invite her to use maximum pressure," said Ethan.

Cal massaged the back of his neck. "I told her she was hurting me, but she wouldn't stop!"

"She told you to stop harassing her, but you didn't stop either," pointed out Ethan.

"I wasn't harassing her!" said Cal. "I really believed she was playing hard to get. It didn't even _occur_ to me that she just didn't fancy me."

* * *

Something touched Sarah's foot. She screamed and nearly fell. "What the hell was that, Emma?"

"Me," said Emma.

"What are you doing?" said Sarah. "Do you want me to die?"

"No, but I also don't want myself to die," said Emma. "I thought that if I stood here and guided your feet down, you wouldn't be so scared and you'd be able to move."

Sarah tried to sound exasperated, but it was a bit difficult when she was terrified. "Emma, seriously: do you really think your fingertips are going to stop me from falling?"

Emma thought. "Okay: I'll get a box or something to stand on."

"No, you can't leave me!" said Sarah.

"Are you sure you can't get to your phone?" said Emma, who'd chosen a very bad time to put her own phone on charge.

"How am I supposed to do that when I can't move?" said Sarah.

Emma sighed and looked up at the wall again. She gulped. "Okay. I'll come up."

"Finally!" said Sarah.

* * *

Ethan looked over at Cal, who was leaning against the nurses' station, his head in his hands. He went over to him and spoke quietly. "Are you okay?"

"No!" growled Cal. "I think I'm dying and I bet you anything that there isn't one person in that whole waiting room who's more ill than me."

Ethan put his hand on Cal's shoulder. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Tell Connie I can't possibly work due to being dead?"

"I think Mrs Beauchamp knows the difference between a dead body and a live one," said Ethan.

Cal just groaned.

"It will probably hurt less if you stand up properly," said Ethan. "I'll give you a massage if you like. A gentle one."

Cal groaned again and straightened up.

Ethan looked at Cal's shoulders. They were a long way up. "Maybe you could bend your knees a bit so I can reach better?"

Cal sighed, bent his knees, and muttered something about Ethan's lack of height. Ethan decided that, just this once, he would pretend he hadn't heard.

Ethan started massaging.

"That's not bad," admitted Cal. "I can almost believe you're a hot blonde."

"Well, I am blond," said Ethan. "And it is hot in here."

Cal straightened his knees and turned to glare at Ethan. "Ethan, if you have to steal my best chat-up lines, could you at least not use them on me?"

* * *

 _Don't look down. Just don't look down_ , Emma told herself. She wasn't usually that scared of heights, but anyone with any sense would be a bit scared of walking along a wall when there was a fifteen-foot drop on one side.

To begin with, it hadn't been that bad. The beginning of the wall was so low, no proper climbing was required. All she had to do was step onto it. The wall continued to go upwards in steps. It was really just like walking up the stairs.

She was nearly there now. Just two more steps and she would be with Sarah. Emma took a deep breath and went up one more step. Then another. "Okay, Sarah. I'm here." She took Sarah's hand firmly in hers. "Okay. Now all we've got to do is get down. And that's got to be easier than climbing up."

How she hoped that was true.

She watched as Sarah took one shaky step, then another.

"That's good!" Emma encouraged her.

"No, Emma. Nothing about this is good."

Slowly and shakily, they shuffled along the wall.

* * *

"How is saying I'm hot a chat-up line?" said Ethan. "I mean, not that I actually meant I'm… you know. _That_ kind of hot. I know I'm not hot at all in that way. I just meant I'm feeling hot. Or does that mean exactly the same thing? But anyway, I wasn't really talking about myself. I was just talking about the temperature of the ED."

Cal sighed. "I know what you meant, Ethan. Can you just go away now?"

Ethan looked offended. "I was only trying to help, Caleb." He picked up a file and stalked off.

"Ethan, wait." Cal went after him. "I'm sorry."

"You really are ill, aren't you?" said Ethan.

"I do feel awful, but I shouldn't be taking it out on you," said Cal.

Ethan frowned. "Are you sure your headache is from the massage? Out-of-character behaviour can be suggestive of a head injury."

Cal started to hit his head against the wall, but he very quickly thought better of it. "Oh, just go away and let me die!"

Ethan put his arm around him. "Maybe you need a bit of seeing-to, yourself. I'm sure I could squeeze you in as long as I make it quick."

"I know I'm gorgeous, Ethan, but please try to remember you're my brother."

Ethan stared at him. "What?"

Cal sighed and wearily explained everything he'd said.

"Oh! No, not that kind of seeing-to. Or that kind of squeezing. I just thought maybe I should get you into bed and… no. That's just as bad. I just meant maybe I could give you the once-over to see how fit you are. Check you out. You know what I mean."

Cal's hands were over his face. "You think I'm in need of a physical examination and you want to give me one."

"Yes! That's it exactly," said Ethan in relief.

But then they were interrupted.

"Dr Knight. Dr Hardy. I take it you have a reason for standing gossiping when we have a waiting room overflowing with patients?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs Beauchamp, but Cal isn't very well," said Ethan. "He has a headache. Not a hangover. Just a headache."

"I see," said Connie. "If you don't want to take a turn for the worse, Dr Knight, I suggest getting on with your job. If I catch either of you gossiping again, there will be trouble. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Mrs Beauchamp," said Cal and Ethan.

"Good," said Connie.


	2. Chapter 2

**EDSidekick** , thank you for your review. I hope things will make a bit more sense after this chapter! I know where things are heading, but all I can say is be prepared for twists and turns.

 **Tato Potato** , I'm so happy you like it! I was a little bit wary of writing a comedy as you obviously enjoy drama, but your request seemed to invite comedy! As do Cal and Ethan. Thank you for your review and I hope you had a good birthday.

 **beckyboogle** , I'm really happy you're enjoying it too. It was supposed to be a one-shot, but I don't think I'm very good at one-shots as they always end up as mini-novels. Thank you for your review - I hope you enjoyed your birthday.

 **Tanith Panic** , I thought it was one of my worst, but I'm really happy you disagree! I was going to start the story with Chapter 2, but then I decided to give the OCs a bit of background, as well as a few more scenes together. Thank you for your review.

 **CBloom2** , thank you for your review. I was a bit worried about the brothers' banter as nothing really happens, so I'm really glad you like it. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

 **ETWentHome** , if you don't want anything to go wrong, you might not like the story... but some things are going to go right, so I hope you'll like those parts! Thank you for your review - I hope I don't disappoint you!

* * *

"Nearly there," said Emma, her voice higher than usual.

"You've been saying that for the last fifteen minutes," said Sarah. "And it's still not true."

Emma looked surprised. "Do you really think it's fifteen minutes?"

"It feels like that," said Sarah.

"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" said Emma.

Sarah was quite glad to find something they agreed on. Slowly and shakily, they made their way along the wall. Every time they stepped down to a lower level, she told herself they were a step closer to safety.

"Now we really are nearly there," said Emma.

Sarah thought she probably couldn't argue with her this time. They just had to go down one more step and then they'd be able to jump down onto the drive.

She took another step, but the wall wasn't where she expected to be and she felt herself falling. She screamed: a shrill, thin, sound of fear.

Emma screamed too as she grabbed at Sarah, but the force of Sarah's downward momentum was too much for her and they both fell to the ground.

* * *

Cal staggered into the waiting room and stood for a moment in the vain hope the pounding in his head might abate a little bit. It didn't. "Sarah Mealing?"

A girl squirmed her way out between the heaving mass of bodies (who fortunately weren't heaving in the sense of throwing up but unfortunately most of them weren't heaving their bosoms either).

Cal stared at the girl, unable to believe it. She was gorgeous. Beautiful. Stunning.

She was probably also some kind of sorceress. All of a sudden, Cal was feeling much better.

"I'm Dr Knight," he said, smiling at her. "Call me Cal. Would you like to come this way, please?"

Sarah was cradling her right arm against her chest. (There didn't seem to be anything at all wrong with her chest. Cal made a point of making a visual examination and was favourably impressed.)

Cal started to show her into the wrong cubicle. "Sorry, no: it's this one," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder to steer her. "If you could sit on the bed for me, please? Now, how can I help you, Sarah?"

"My wrist," said Sarah. "I was trying to climb down from a wall and I… fell off."

"What were you doing on a wall?" said Cal as he gently took hold of her wrist.

Sarah winced slightly. "Well, you see, there's this really hot guy who lives next door to me. I thought that if I stood on the wall, I might be able to see into his bedroom."

"And could you?" said Cal as he carefully checked her wrist over.

"Yes, but he had an inflatable man in his room," said Sarah. "I thought that was really exciting at first, but on second thoughts, I think it might mean the rumours that he's gay are true."

Cal smiled sympathetically. "That must have been a disappointment."

"It was at first," said Sarah. "But then I realised my wrist was hurting quite a lot and to be honest, I stopped caring very much."

"Pain often does make everything else seem quite unimportant," said Cal, who considered himself a bit of an expert on the subject after this morning. He stroked his thumb over her wrist. "You must have a good head for heights."

"I did on the way up," said Sarah.

Cal nodded. "That's often the way. I'll climb up anything when I'm drunk, but I'm not so good with climbing down."

He felt a bit worried she might think he was a bit pathetic, but she looked as though she understood. "The thing about drinking is that it makes your legs a bit unsteady and then the world starts spinning," she said. "How are you supposed to climb down anything when you're dealing with that?"

"A girl after my own heart," said Cal.

"I wouldn't go quite that far," said Sarah. But she was smiling.

* * *

"Emma Mealing?" said Ethan.

He heard a voice saying "Excuse me," several times, and then out from the crowd stepped the most beautiful girl Ethan had ever seen. "Hello. I'm Emma."

"Hello," said Ethan. "I'm… um, I'm Dr Hardy."

"I'm Emma," she said. "Or have I said that already?"

Ethan smiled. "Would you like to come this way?" He showed her into the cubicle. "How can I help you?"

"I've hurt my wrist," said Emma. "I was trying to climb down from a wall and I lost my balance." She shuddered slightly.

"It sounds terrifying," said Ethan, meaning it. "But you're safe now and I'll do everything I can to help." He held out his hand. "Would you mind if I had a look?"

Emma blushed slightly and held out her wrist.

Ethan held it gently. "I can see there's a bit of a bruise, but it doesn't seem to be swollen, which is a good sign."

"Does that mean it's less likely to be broken?" said Emma shyly.

"Theoretically, I'm afraid it doesn't necessarily work like that," said Ethan. "Swelling happens when chemicals are released into the capillaries following injury. Capillaries are like small veins and arteries. The chemicals causes the capillaries to widen, which means more blood enters the capillaries and fluid leaks into the site of the injury. It's the fluid that causes…" Ethan stopped. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to lecture you."

"No, I thought it was interesting," said Emma.

Ethan had to admit she looked interested, but perhaps she was a very good actress. "Really?" he said doubtfully.

"Really," said Emma.

* * *

Cal frowned. "So, you say you felt dizzy?"

"Yes, but that's normal, isn't it?" said Sarah. "If you're up somewhere really high and you look down and you suddenly realise it's not quite as low as you thought it was?"

"It is normal if that's what caused the dizziness," said Cal. "But I'm concerned it might be something else. Do you often feel dizzy?"

Sarah could think of quite a few instances. There was every time she saw Dominic, for a start. And when she'd heard Cal's voice for the first time and again when she'd seen him. The man was gorgeous – and the fact he seemed to know it was becoming less and less of a problem. "I suppose I do feel dizzy sometimes."

"Is it always when you're looking down from a height?"

"I suppose not," said Sarah. She'd had to look up in order to see Cal. "But it's not like it happens for no reason."

"When you felt dizzy on the wall: was that the first time you'd looked down?" said Cal.

"I'm not sure," said Sarah. "I wasn't making any particular effort not to look down, though I was most interested in looking straight ahead of me into Dominic's bedroom."

Cal smiled. "Do you like seeing men's bedrooms?"

Sarah smiled back. "Are you quite sure that question has any medical relevance?"

"No, perhaps not," admitted Cal. "But I am a bit worried. While you're here, I think I should take some bloods."

Sarah swallowed. "Take some bloods? With needles?"

"I could try the vampire way if you really want me to," said Cal.

"I think I'm desperate enough to try anything!" said Sarah. "No offence."

Cal laughed. "None taken."

Sarah felt sudden hope. "I don't suppose 'none taken' is an option with the bloods?"

Cal shook his head. "Sorry. I really think this is something I need to look into. But if you don't like needles, we would do everything we can to make you feel as comfortable as possible."

He had such incredible blue eyes. Sarah smiled into them. "I suppose I could give it a try. For you."

Cal smiled back. "Careful. I might get a big head."

"Don't worry. I think you're past the stage of worrying about that," said Sarah.

* * *

Emma looked up at Ethan in alarm. "I don't get dizzy that often."

"Perhaps not, but I still think it's worth looking into while you're here," said Ethan.

"But… but isn't it really busy?" said Emma. "Wouldn't you rather get rid of me as soon as possible?"

"That's the last thing I want," said Ethan.

Emma blushed.

"I mean, I want to make you better," said Ethan. "Completely better. I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't take the bloods."

"I just…" said Emma, looking at the floor.

"Whatever's wrong, you can tell me," said Ethan. "I'm sure it's nothing I haven't heard a hundred times before. And if it is, I'm always interested to discover something new."

Emma lowered her voice. "I really don't like blood. At all."

"Does it make you feel sick or faint?" said Ethan understandingly.

"No, it just makes me feel scared," admitted Emma. "I don't know why. It just makes me think I'm dying and I get into such a complete panic because I quite like being alive."

"We don't take nearly enough blood to do any damage," said Ethan. "But I imagine you've been told that already. Facts like that aren't very helpful when you're afraid. Miss Mealing, if you really don't want me to take the bloods, it is your decision. I can't force you. But if you did agree to it, I would make sure that you didn't see the blood."

Emma looked into his kind brown eyes. "Do you really think it would be a good idea to get this done?"

"I really do," said Ethan.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tanith Panic** , it is fun to be able to contrast the brothers' different reactions to their patients. Though I'd be happy for either of them to treat me! Thank you for your review and I'm glad you're enjoying it.

 **Tato Potato** , I was hoping you and your sister would identify with a different girl, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to manage it. I'm glad I've managed to pair you up with the right brothers! Thank you for your review.

 **Guest** , that must be you, **beckyboogle**! Thank you for your review. I really am happy you're enjoying the story and that Sarah and Emma are so close in character to you and your sister. I hope that will continue, but I can't promise!

 **CBloom2** , thank you for your review. I'm glad you like the two girls. I suppose it goes without saying that you like the guys! I hope you continue to enjoy it.

* * *

 _I hope it's clear what happens in this chapter!_

* * *

Emma stood beside the reception desk and wondered if that nice Dr Hardy had a point about the dizziness. She was feeling a bit dizzy now and would have sat down if she could, but there wasn't a spare seat.

"Hey," said a voice and she looked up to see another doctor. "I'm afraid all the nurses are tied up – not literally, unfortunately – so you'll have to put up with me doing your blood test."

Emma wanted to ask why Dr Hardy couldn't have done it, but she was too scared. The new doctor – Dr Knight, according to his badge – was very tall and very muscular and a whole world away from kind, gentle Dr Hardy. She followed Dr Knight into a cubicle and sat on the bed.

"Hey, don't look so scared!" said Dr Knight. "It's going to be okay. I've got a screen and I'm going to put it over your arm so you won't see the needle going in. I've got an extra small needle, which should help, and I can see you've been keeping your arm warm like I told you."

Emma didn't remember him telling her to keep her arm warm, but she thought he probably had. She was almost too scared to remember anything.

Dr Knight took hold of her bad arm and Emma couldn't restrain a little scream. "What's wrong? Did you hurt that wrist too?"

"No, this is my bad wrist," Emma gasped out through tears of pain.

"Are you sure?" said Dr Knight.

Emma mutely indicated the bandage.

"Okay. Sorry. My mistake." Dr Knight went to her other side. "If you hold your arm like this… that's good. I'll put the screen up here and… don't cry, beautiful. It's going to be okay." He squeezed her arm. "So, what are you up to this weekend?"

Emma stared at him and wondered if he was asking her for a date. She wished Dr Hardy would do something like that, but she had a horrible feeling she was never going to see him again. "I thought I might go and see a film." That had been her plan, but as usual, Sarah hadn't been enthusiastic about her choice of film, and Emma didn't think she'd be in the mood for a film either after what had happened today.

She closed her eyes for a moment and silently hoped Sarah was okay. She hadn't seen her since before she'd been called in to see Dr Hardy. She thought about asking Dr Knight if he knew anything, but then he might ask questions about Sarah and she didn't want him to know she'd been unable to prevent her sister from falling.

"What kind of films are you into?" asked Dr Knight.

Emma couldn't see what he was doing, but she was sure he was preparing the needle. She bit her lip and tried to blink her tears away. "I really like foreign films."

"I've seen a lot of foreign films," said Dr Knight. She felt him touch her arm. "What's your favourite?"

Emma started to tell him, but then she screamed as the needle entered her arm.

"Well, I've never had that reaction from a girl before," said Dr Knight. "It's okay. Not long to go now. You're doing really well."

Emma sobbed loudly. She knew she wasn't doing well at all.

"There: that's done," said Dr Knight. "Well done. It's all over now. I'm just putting a dressing on now… there."

"I'm sorry, Dr Knight," sobbed Emma. "I just get so scared."

"I know, baby. But I thought I told you to call me Cal." Dr Knight removed the screen and put his arm around her. "It's okay. It's over now. Just keep the dressing on for an hour and no heavy lifting." He rubbed her back. "It's okay, baby. It's okay." He gave her a tissue. "I'm here and I'm not leaving you. When you're ready, I'll take you back to the waiting room, but we're not going anywhere till you're ready."

Emma nodded. She cried for a bit longer, but then she dried her tears and smiled at Cal. "I'm sorry. I'm okay now."

"Good girl," said Cal.

Emma looked down at her make-up-stained tissue. "Oh dear. I probably look awful."

"You? Awful? No way!" said Cal. He smiled. "You look beautiful. You really do."

* * *

Sarah came out of the loos and looked around for Cal, but she couldn't see him. She hoped that meant he hadn't come to find her yet, rather than that he'd given up on her. Sarah didn't like the idea of Cal giving up on her.

But sitting in the waiting room, thinking about the needle and the fact she hadn't seen Emma for what seemed like hours, she'd started to feel so sick...

But she was fine now. She wasn't feeling calm, but she was determined to handle this. She wanted Cal to think she was strong: the type of girl who could handle anything. The type of girl she always told herself she was.

There was a doctor standing by the reception desk. He looked a little bit lost, but he smiled when he saw Sarah. "Miss Mealing."

Sarah was confused. She didn't know who this guy was or how he knew her, but she went towards him anyway.

"I'm sorry, but all the nurses are busy," he said. His name-badge said Ethan Hardy. "You could wait if you'd rather have the tests done by a nurse, but I can do it for you now if you like."

"You're a doctor," said Sarah, trying not to show her disappointment that he wasn't the doctor she wanted. With his big glasses, rather diffident manner and skinny physique, he probably had far too much experience of not being the doctor someone wanted. "I'm sure you know what you're doing."

"I hope so," said Ethan with a shy smile. He led her to the cubicle and showed her a screen he was going to put over her arm so she wouldn't see him taking the blood. "You probably will feel something – I'm very sorry about that. I do wish there was some way of avoiding it, but I'm going to use a smaller needle so it shouldn't hurt and you won't see anything at all."

Sarah decided he was rather sweet. Not her type, but sweet. She was still terrified out of her mind, but at least he was trying to help. "Thanks, Dr Hardy."

"You're welcome," said Ethan. As he set up the screen, Sarah told herself it was only a needle and it was nothing to worry about and Ethan probably knew exactly what he was doing, even if he did give a slight impression that he didn't.

"It's only a needle," she said out loud.

"You're being very brave," said Ethan. He looked like he meant it.

Sarah laughed. "I only wish I'd been a bit braver earlier. Then perhaps I wouldn't be in this mess." She thought guiltily of Emma and hoped she was okay. Emma would almost certainly need a blood test too and Emma couldn't bear the sight of blood. Sarah felt awful for getting her into this mess. That was why she hadn't mentioned her to Cal. Injuring herself was one thing. He probably wouldn't like her nearly as much if he knew what she'd done to her own twin sister.

Sarah tried to keep being brave, but she couldn't help whimpering when he gently took hold of her arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Ethan. He glanced at her, surprised. "Was that your bad arm? I thought it was the other one."

"Believe me," said Sarah. "It's definitely that one."

"I'm sorry. That was stupid of me," said Ethan. "I was so sure it was your left wrist. But I really should have noticed the bandage. I'm so sorry."

Sarah brushed his apologies aside. "Everyone makes mistakes. And there are much worse mistakes you could have made."

"Very true," said Ethan. "But there won't be any more mistakes. I promise." He went to her other side and carefully put her uninjured arm into the correct position. He put the screen up around it. Sarah couldn't see what he was doing, but she could hear sounds and she didn't like it.

"Oh God. I feel sick," she said.

"I'm sorry: I should have asked about that," said Ethan. He got her a bowl. "Here you are. Can you hold it in your bad hand or is that too painful?"

"I can manage," said Sarah. Her wrist pain really seemed quite low on the priority scale at the current moment in time.

Ethan took her hand again. Despite her fear, Sarah couldn't help thinking it felt very different when Cal touched her hand.

"It's all right, Miss Mealing," said Ethan. "You're doing ever so well. How about we talk about something else? It might distract you a bit. The last thing I want to do is give you a running commentary. Um… what shall we talk about? Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"I think I'll go out clubbing," said Sarah. She hoped she'd be able to drag Emma along, but there probably wasn't much chance of that. "Nothing like a good dance to get everything out of my system."

"I'm a terrible dancer, myself," said Ethan. "But I can imagine it's very pleasant if you know what you're doing."

Sarah smiled to herself. It was a shame Ethan wasn't treating Emma. They'd be so perfect together. "The nice thing about clubbing is that it doesn't matter if you can dance or not. I'm quite comfortable with dancing, but my sister isn't so good. She gets really self-conscious at first, but then she gradually realises everyone is too drunk to… oh my God."

The needle had just gone in. She threw up into the bowl and heard Ethan murmuring words of comfort and stroking her arm with what was presumably a spare finger.

"Sorry," said Sarah.

"Please don't apologise," said Ethan. "I'm used to it and I'm sure it was much worse for you than it was for me. I'm just sorry to be the cause of it. There: you'll be pleased to know that's done." He took the bowl away and gave her a tissue to wipe her mouth and a cup of water. "Perhaps you won't agree with me, but I really do think you were incredibly brave."


	4. Chapter 4

**Tanith Panic** , I'm sorry, I worded it badly. Sarah just meant he looked like the type of guy who was often overlooked. Her thoughts about him in this chapter are more complimentary. I definitely think he's gorgeous! Thank you for your review.

 **Tato Potato** , I'm glad you found the chapter funny! I don't know if you and Beckyboogle are identical, but I've just read The Comedy of Errors, which kind of inspired me a bit. Thank you for your review.

 **ETWentHome** , thank you for your review. Yes, they have mixed up their patients! But it might take them a little bit longer before they realise.

 **beckyboogle** , I'm so happy you're enjoying it! It's a pleasure to write it for you and Tato Potato and I hope you enjoy this chapter too. Thank you for your review.

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review - it's lovely that you're enjoying so much! There will be more brotherly moments to come, probably in Chapter 5, which I'll post tomorrow if I can.

* * *

Sarah had decided she rather liked Ethan Hardy and he was actually nearly as good-looking as Caleb Knight, but there was only one doctor she wanted to collect her blood results from.

When Cal appeared, Sarah was standing waiting beside the reception desk. "Hey, Cal. Are you looking for me?" she said.

A smile appeared on Cal's face. "Who else would I be looking for?"

"I'm sure you do have other patients," said Sarah.

"Maybe I do," said Cal. "But right now, I'm only interested in you. Would you care to follow me?"

"Now, there's an offer I can't refuse!" Sarah followed him to the cubicle and sat on the bed.

Cal sat down beside her. "How are you feeling, Sarah?" he asked.

Sarah grimaced. He looked so worried, he could only assume Ethan had told him everything. "Oh, I'm fine. I'd really like to move on and forget about that."

"Okay: fair enough," said Cal. "There really is nothing to be embarrassed about, but I'm happy to move on if that's what you'd like. I'm sure I'd feel exactly the same in your position." He smiled at her, but then he looked away and shifted uncomfortably on the bed. "Right. So. Your blood results."

Sarah started to worry. "Don't tell me I've got some horrible disease."

"No: nothing like that," said Cal. "It's nothing serious and you're barely even outside the normal range, but I do have to let you know."

Sarah's heart was pounding (though that might be the way Cal looked, rather than what he'd said), but she tried to smile. "Well, it's not often a guy's told me I'm outside the normal range."

"I'm surprised," said Cal, as he finally he looked at her. "You are more than normally attractive, you know."

Sarah decided it couldn't be anything too serious if he was still flirting. "I bet you say that to all your patients."

"No: only the girls," said Cal.

Sarah laughed. "Now, why doesn't that surprise me? But go on. Tell me the bad news."

"Okay," said Cal, becoming serious again. "You have a low white blood cell count. It's only slightly low, so it's very unlikely to cause you any problems, but I'm going to refer you to haematology and also let your GP know. Not because I'm massively worried: because my boss would kick my butt if she knew I hadn't."

"So I have a reduced ability to fight infection," said Sarah. "That actually does sound quite worrying."

Cal looked impressed. "Yes, that's right, but it's only very slightly reduced. I doubt haematology will want to do anything more than monitor the situation."

"You know, that would probably reassure me," said Sarah, "if it wasn't for the fact that they're going to want to monitor my _blood_. So they're probably going to want to stick needles into me, aren't they?"

Cal looked sympathetic. "I'm afraid so, Sarah, but a lot of people are afraid of needles. The phlebotomists will be used to dealing with that. But haematology might even discharge you after one appointment. Basically, you're fine and you won't need to take any medication or change your lifestyle. You just need to be aware of a couple of things."

"Like what?" said Sarah, trying to hide the fact she was worried.

"Do you get a lot of colds?" he asked.

"No more than most people," said Sarah. She was glad to have avoided that symptom... though on second thoughts, it could have its advantages. "If I do start getting lots of colds, should I come back and see you?"

Cal looked slightly regretful. "If you think it might be pneumonia, then you should come back to the ED, yes. Otherwise, I'm afraid it's a job for the haematologist."

* * *

Emma was lost among the sea of bodies. Most of them were talking and she was worried she might not hear Ethan if he called her name, but she needn't have worried. It didn't sound as though Ethan was shouting, but his soft voice somehow rose above all the others.

"Hello, Dr Hardy," she said, lowering her head shyly and hoping he couldn't tell she thought he was gorgeous.

"Hello, Miss Mealing," said Ethan.

For a moment, he just looked at her. Emma stared back at him, unable to look away.

"Are you feeling better?" said Ethan anxiously.

Emma could only assume Cal had told him about the crying. "I'm okay now. I'm fine. I was just being stupid."

"Of course you weren't," said Ethan. "It was a perfectly natural reaction."

They looked at one another for a moment more, then Ethan cleared his throat and asked her to follow him. They went into a cubicle and Emma sat on the bed, with Ethan looking down at her.

"I have your blood results," said Ethan. "I'm very sorry, but we have detected a very slight problem. It's nothing to worry about – though I have to admit I always worry when a doctor says that to me – but I do have to make you aware of it."

"What is it?" said Emma, barely able to speak.

"You have a very slightly reduced platelet count," said Ethan. "I'm going to refer you to haematology, but only as a precaution. It's very unlikely that you'll have any problems: it's really just so you can be monitored so if there is a problem later, we'll pick up on it. But that's very unlikely to happen."

Emma bit her lip. She knew that haemaphobia was a fear of blood, so haematology didn't sound good at all. "Will I need another blood test?"

"I'm afraid so, but if you explain to the phlebotomist, they'll do everything they can to ensure you don't see anything you don't want to see," said Ethan. "I really am sorry. I wish there was another way, but as the problem isn't that serious, they probably won't want to see you too regularly."

"Is there anything I need to do?"

"There isn't really anything you _need_ to do, but if you notice you have any bruises and you can't remember where they come from, you should consider contacting the haematologist," said Ethan. "Also, I know I recommended keeping the dressing from your blood test on for an hour, but as it's likely to take you longer to stop bleeding than most people, I suggest leaving it on for at least two hours."

* * *

Cal smiled at Sarah. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

Sarah took a moment to consider, then shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"Then you are honourably discharged," said Cal. He smiled again and was rewarded with a lovely smile in return that made his heart skip a beat. He hadn't experienced that for a while. "And as you're not my patient anymore…"

"Yes?" said Sarah. Her voice was only mildly curious, but he read the excitement in her eyes.

"… I was wondering if you might consider giving me your number," said Cal with a sexy smile.

"No," said Sarah.

Cal's shoulders slumped. "Okay, Sarah. Fair enough."

Sarah's eyes shone with mischief. "I think you misunderstood, Cal. I mean no, I don't need to consider it." Sarah moved closer to Cal. "Of course you can have my number."

* * *

Ethan didn't want her to go.

It wasn't the first time he'd felt attracted to a patient, but it was the first time he'd felt this sad about discharging someone. She was so sweet and shy and he actually felt comfortable with her. There were so few girls who made him feel like that.

He wished he was more like Cal. Cal would know exactly what to do – and he'd almost certainly be successful. All Ethan could do was tremble and wish for the impossible.

"Dr Hardy?" said Emma in a hesitant voice.

"Why don't you call me Ethan?" he suggested. He wanted to hear his name on her lips even if it only happened once.

Emma blushed. "I'd be happy to. I hope you can call me Emma."

"Of course I can, Emma," said Ethan. He'd have done it before if she hadn't been so beautiful.

They looked at one another.

"Emma, I was wondering-" began Ethan.

"Ethan, I was wondering-" Emma said at exactly the same time.

"After you," said Ethan.

"No, after you," said Emma.

"Please," said Ethan. "I insist."

"C-could I maybe have your number? Then I could phone you? If I feel worse? Or something?"

Ethan stared at her in amazement, then he smiled in delight. "Of course you can, Emma." He pulled his notepad and a pen from his pocket and wrote his number as neatly as he could when his hand was shaking. "If there's anything I can do at all, no matter how trivial or frivolous it seems, you can always phone me."

"Thank you," said Emma, gazing at the piece of paper almost in wonder.

"No. Thank you," said Ethan.


	5. Chapter 5

**Tato Potato** , thank you for your review - I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. There are certainly problems that can arise as a result of having someone else's medical records, so you could be right!

 **Tanith Panic** , thank you for your review. I've never even heard of intelligent fluff before, but it sounds good! I must try to be intelligent more often. I'm glad you like Sarah and Emma - I really love writing fanfiction, but mostly, the characters are all written for me. I like making up characters of my own!

 **CBloom2** , I don't think I got your whole review, but I really like what I got, so thank you! It's always lovely to know that you're looking forward to the next chapter. Well, here it is - I hope you enjoy it.

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review - I'm really happy you enjoyed the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one too! I'm going to start reading one of your stories as my bedtime reading tonight - I'm looking forward to it!

 **ETWentHome** , the blood results are a complete mess! But I suppose if they are worried about anything, they can always phone Ethan! Thank you for your review.

* * *

"There you are!" said Sarah, when she finally caught sight of her sister. "I thought I'd lost you. Have you been discharged yet?"

Emma nodded. "I was discharged ten minutes ago. What about you?"

"Yes, I'm all done." Sarah gave her a significant look. "For now, anyway."

"Oh, have you got to come back?" said Emma. "My doctor said my wrist is just sprained so I won't need to go back."

Sarah smiled like the cat who'd got the cream and half the milk as well. "My wrist is just sprained too, but _my_ doctor asked for my number so I think there's a fair chance I'll be seeing him again. He's gorgeous, Emma. Absolutely, stunningly, gorgeously hot. And he's all mine."

"My doctor was gorgeous too," said Emma, not to be outdone. "And I asked for _his_ number."

Not much shocked Sarah where her sister was concerned. That did. " _You_ asked for a guy's number? A _doctor's_ number?"

"Yes, but I pretended it was for medical reasons," said Emma.

Sarah led the way out towards the taxi rank. "Tell me more… once I've finished telling you about my Dr Cal Knight, that is."

"Cal?" said Emma. "I met Cal! He did my blood test for me. He was really kind. I cried all over him and he didn't freak out once."

"I had a different doctor doing my blood test too," said Sarah. "Dr Ethan Hardy."

Just the sound of his name made Emma shiver. "Yes: that's my Ethan!"

Sarah shook her head. "I can't believe we both walked into a hospital and came out with a boyfriend. Isn't it great?"

"Isn't it?" said Emma. "If it was just you, I'd understand. But me!"

"Well, Dr Hardy was a bit weird," said Sarah cheekily.

Emma gasped in horror. "He was not! He was lovely."

"No, I'm just teasing you," said Sarah. "He didn't mind when I threw up over him, which is always a positive. He was really sweet about it. And he's very good-looking. But he's much more your type than mine."

"And Cal's much more yours," said Emma. "He was a little bit flirty."

"Not with me," said Sarah, to Emma's amazement. But then she continued. "He was a lot more than a _little_ bit flirty with me!"

They both laughed.

"It's weird, though," said Sarah.

"What is? Me getting a boyfriend?" Emma teased her.

"No… well, yes. Obviously. That's the weirdest thing ever." Sarah poked her in the ribs. "But it's also weird we kind of swapped doctors in the middle. Why not just stick with the same doctor?"

Emma thought this over, intrigued. "It is weird."

"I suppose it might have been completely random: the next doctor who was free took the next patient, no matter who it was," said Sarah. "But then to end up with the same doctors is a bit of a coincidence!"

"Unless it's fate," said Emma. "It's either that or… oh dear."

"Oh dear?" echoed Sarah incredulously. "We get ourselves hot, intelligent boyfriends and you're saying 'oh dear'? Okay, so we've hurt ourselves quite a lot and embarrassed ourselves in front of our twin sister's boyfriend, but look on the bright side… we have hot, intelligent boyfriends!"

Emma gave her an worried look. "Do you think maybe they got us mixed up? They wouldn't necessarily have known there were two of us. They'd just have gone over to the patient who looked right. And as they call us Miss Mealing, we wouldn't have known."

Sarah thought about this for a moment, but then she shook her head. "It couldn't be that. Cal didn't call me Miss Mealing. He called me Sarah. So if he thought you were me, he'd have called you Sarah too."

"Oh. I don't think he did," said Emma. "I usually notice things like that."

They reached the taxi rank and climbed into a taxi. As Sarah gave her address to the driver, Emma got Ethan's phone number out of her bag and looked at it again. She still couldn't believe it had really happened.

"It's weird that Cal didn't mention you though," said Sarah. "You'd think if he saw two identical patients, he'd mention it. Did Ethan say anything about me?"

Emma shook her head. "No, he didn't, but they wouldn't be allowed to do that. It's against patient confidentiality."

"True," said Sarah. She looked slightly disappointed to be proved wrong, but it wasn't long before she was smiling again. "We have gorgeous, intelligent boyfriends! Now, be quiet and listen while i tell you everything Cal said to me. And then, when I've finished, I want to hear absolutely everything Cal said to _you_."

"And then you'll tell me everything Ethan said to you?" said Emma hopefully.

Sarah smiled and hugged her. "Try and stop me!"

* * *

Ethan had a soppy smile on his face. He knew it was dangerous when he could theoretically meet Cal at any moment, but it wasn't every day that a girl liked him.

He just hoped Emma wouldn't turn out to be a murderer. That kind of thing could really ruin a relationship.

He also hoped she wouldn't be one of those girls who were only interested in him because he was a doctor. There seemed to be a lot of that about at the moment.

Luckily, he saw Cal coming before Cal saw him and quickly schooled his face into its usual serious expression – only to discover that Cal had a soppy look on his face too.

He just hoped the girl who had caused the soppy look wouldn't turn out to be a con-artist. That kind of thing could really ruin a relationship.

"Ethan!" said Cal, and tried to hug him.

Ethan got out of the way. "If you want the flat to yourself tonight, the answer's no." Much as he'd have liked to see Emma tonight, she needed to rest. "But I might be going out tomorrow night."

He hoped so anyway. Emma had made a point of asking Ethan if there was any medical reason why she shouldn't go out tomorrow night. Ethan had told her that if she was reasonably well-rested and not in too much pain, there was no reason why she shouldn't go out and enjoy herself, as long as she didn't tire herself out.

Of course, he knew that Emma might have been talking about going out with someone else. She might have a boyfriend for all he knew. She probably did. She was beautiful.

But for some reason, Ethan was feeling almost positive.

"That's okay. I'll be spending tonight all on my own," said Cal. "Sarah was in an accident today so she really needs to rest."

Ethan sighed. "Caleb, don't tell me you've been flirting with the patients again. You know the rules about flirting with the…" He closed his eyes for a moment. On second thoughts, he probably wasn't qualified to give that lecture anymore.

"Some patients are just special," said Cal defensively. "And Sarah is _special_."

Ethan knew it might be better not to tell him, but a smile sneaked out. "Actually, Emma's pretty special too."

Cal looked shocked. "Who's Emma? How did you get another girlfriend already? It took me months and I know what I'm doing!"

"Emma is, um… my patient," said Ethan with an embarrassed smile. "She asked my for my phone number. I said yes."

He couldn't dodge Cal's hug that time. "That's brilliant, Nibbles! I'm really happy for you, mate. It's about time you got over Marmalade."

"Honey," said Ethan.

"Whatever," said Cal dismissively. "So, do you need me to clear out of the flat for the night? Because I'm not sure how I could pass the time if I did."

Ethan could think of a few things Cal could do, but he also knew they probably wouldn't appeal to Cal when he was feeling soppy. "Not tonight. Emma needs to rest too."

"What was she in for?" said Cal.

"I don't think I can really tell you," said Ethan. "Patient confidentiality."

"Oh, right. That," said Cal. "I suppose that means I can't tell you about Sarah either."

Ethan had heard Cal talking about his girlfriends before. He usually went into far too much detail. "Sorry, Cal. I don't think you can. How about we worry about this when we know our new relationships are going to go somewhere?"

"I know already," said Cal. "Sometimes you just get a feeling about a girl."

Ethan didn't remind Cal of what had happened the last time he'd got a feeling about a girl.

Cal patted him on the back. "Looks like we're both back in business then!"

"You are, anyway," said Ethan. "Emma hasn't phoned me yet. "

"Don't give up hope, little brother," said Cal. "Miracles do happen."

"I know they do," said Ethan.

Emma's asking for his number was proof of that.


	6. Chapter 6

**beckyboogle** , I'm really happy you like this story! This chapter is probably the least funny, but I hope you'll like it. Thank you for your review.

 **Tanith Panic** , aw thank you! That's really kind of you. If this was filmed, I know which which actors I'd like to play the two guys! Thank you for your review!

 **Tato Potato** , I think anyone would be happy to have Cal and Ethan's number - or yours and Beckyboogle's for that matter. Thank you for your review!

 **CBloom2** , I've always thought Honey was a bit of a silly name! Thank you for your review. I'm really happy you're enjoying the story, even if your phone isn't!

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review - I'm happy you're still enjoying it. I hope you like the latest update!

 **ETWentHome** , thank you for your review. I am planning on a few obstacles, but they won't necessarily be insurmountable. I do actually like happy endings!

* * *

Sarah had to admit she was worried about Emma's low platelet count. "It's a good thing you didn't cut yourself when you fell off the wall. You might have bled to death."

"Yes, it's probably a very good thing I landed on you," said Emma.

"That's not quite what I would have said!" said Sarah. She gave Emma a hug. "I hope you're okay."

Emma hugged her back. "It's only very slightly low. I've just got to be careful. Cal said not to take my dressing off for two or three hours."

"He told me to take mine off after one hour," said Sarah. She looked at her watch. "How long have we been home?"

"I can't remember," said Emma. She was looking dreamy again. "Ethan is so lovely!"

Sarah rolled her eyes, though she was actually thrilled for her sister, and started to take her own dressing off. "Ow, that hurts! Why do they always have to use this stuff? It's practically sellotape. What's wrong with a plaster? I'm sure they don't hurt nearly as much. Typical NHS."

"I don't know. I think there are a couple of really good things about the NHS," said Emma.

Sarah laughed. "Cal and Ethan?" She pulled at her dressing again. "You really had better be careful taking yours off, Emma. It's taken half my skin off!"

Emma had a look. "No, it hasn't."

"Well, it feels like it!" Sarah gritted her teeth and prepared to pull the rest of it off in one go. "Ow! That really… oh great!"

"What's wrong?"

"It's still bleeding," said Sarah. "So I'll have to put it back on. It can't have been quite an hour after all. You'd better wait at least another hour and ten minutes, Emma."

She stuck it back down, really quite annoyed, but she soon cheered up when she got a phone call from an unknown number.

"I bet you anything it's Cal!" said Sarah.

It was actually someone trying to sell vacuum cleaners, but as Cal phoned less than five minutes later, she wasn't disappointed for long.

"How are you, gorgeous?" said Cal.

"I'm fine," said Sarah. "How are you? Saved any lives lately?"

"One or two," said Cal. "So I'm really in need of some relaxation now."

"Oh, what a shame!" said Sarah. "I would offer to help you relax, but my doctor advised me not to go out this evening."

"I think you should listen to your doctor," said Cal. "He knows what he's talking about. Doctors are very intelligent, you know."

Sarah laughed. "Not short on confidence, are you?"

"I will be if you refuse to go out with me tomorrow night," said Cal. "I don't think my confidence will ever recover."

"Then I suppose I'd better say yes," said Sarah. "Where do you want to go?"

She could almost hear Cal's smile. "I'm not telling you. It's going to be a surprise."

If they were talking in person, Sarah would have shrugged. "Okay."

There was a silence. "You're not going to ask me for a clue?"

"No, I don't think so," said Sarah. "I don't want to give you the satisfaction of saying no. But one thing you'd better tell me is what time you're going to pick me up."

Cal's voice was apologetic. "I'm actually working till seven tomorrow, so it might be best if you came to meet me at the hospital? I'll send a taxi to pick you up. Pre-paid, of course."

"That's not very good for the first date," said Sarah. "But I suppose I can let you get away with it this once."

Cal laughed. "I can see I'll need to be on my toes with you."

"You'll look like a ballet dancer by the time I've finished with you."

* * *

Cal smiled in satisfaction and turned to Ethan. "All sorted. Date with Sarah tomorrow night."

"Lovely," said Ethan gloomily.

Cal saw the genuine disappointment on Ethan's face. He decided that as his own love life wasn't a disaster anymore, he could afford to be generous. "Give her time, mate. She might not have got home yet."

Ethan frowned worriedly. "I hope she has. She doesn't live that far away and she said she'd get a taxi."

"You can ask her when she phones," said Cal kindly.

" _If_ she phones," said Ethan.

* * *

Emma stared down at her phone. "You don't think it's a bit soon?"

"I don't think so," said Sarah. "Cal's phoned me already. So whatever happens, you're not as desperate as he is."

"He might still be at work," said Emma.

Sarah had an answer for that too. "Then you can phone again later."

Emma still wasn't sure. "What if he did only give me his phone number for medical reasons?"

Sarah sighed. "Doctors never give out their phone number for medical reasons. It's against the rules."

"You mean Ethan could get into trouble?" said Emma, horrified.

"Yes, probably," said Sarah. "But it was his decision. You didn't hold him down on the bed and tickle him till he said yes."

Emma couldn't help smiling at that image. "Maybe one day…"

"Not if you don't phone him," said Sarah. She made a sudden grab at the phone and pressed the call button. "There you are!"

"Sarah!" Emma held it to her ear in horror. "It's ringing!"

"That's what phones are supposed to do," said Sarah.

"But what if he picks up?" said Emma in a terrified whisper. "What do I say?"

Sarah pretended to consider. "You could always try 'hello'."

* * *

Ethan's hand was shaking as he stared at the phone. He knew the unknown number wouldn't necessarily be Emma's number. There were all kinds of unknown numbers who might want to phone him. Maybe Lofty was phoning to say he'd dropped his phone down the loo again and this was his new number.

"Are you going to answer it or am I?" said Cal.

Faced with that alternative, there was only one thing to do. "Hello?" said Ethan.

"Um, hello. Is that, um, Ethan?"

Ethan recognised her voice at once and was unable to stop himself from smiling.

"I hope that's Emma," said Cal. "Or you're a bigger rat than I am."

"Hello?" said Emma.

"Oh. Sorry. Hello," said Ethan, and escaped quickly into his bedroom. "Sorry. Is that Emma?"

There was a silence.

"Emma? Is that you?"

"Yes, it is. Sorry. I forgot you couldn't see me nodding."

Ethan smiled again. "If I ever go silent and you've just asked me a question, it's likely to be for exactly the same reason."

Emma giggled. "I'm glad it's not just me."

"How are you?" said Ethan.

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you," said Emma. "How are you?"

"Very well, thank you," said Ethan. He tried to think of something more interesting to say. "Um, I'm really happy you called."

"Really?" said Emma. "I'm really happy I called too."

"Good," said Ethan. "I mean… um…. You said you had plans for tomorrow night?"

"Not yet," said Emma. "But I'm hoping someone might make plans with me."

Ethan's hopes plummeted. "I think anyone would be lucky to make plans with you."

There was a silence. Ethan wondered if Emma was nodding again, but then he remembered he hadn't asked a question.

"Really?" Emma's voice was barely audible. She might have said 'wheelie', but Ethan decided that wouldn't make sense.

"Really," said Ethan.

Emma's voice rose slightly in pitch. "W-would you like to make plans with me?"

"I would absolutely love to make plans with you," said Ethan.

"Really?"

"Of course," said Ethan. "And if you don't mind, I already have an idea of a venue for our first date. If you trust me."

"With my life," said Emma.

"A lot of people trust me with their life," said Ethan. "I'm a doctor. But trusting me to choose an appropriate date venue is a bit different."

Emma laughed softly. "I still trust you, Ethan."

Ethan silently promised himself he'd never give her cause to regret it. "How about if I pick you up at seven-thirty? I'm sorry that's rather late, but my shift doesn't finish until seven."

"That sounds perfect," said Emma.

* * *

Emma floated around the house for the rest of the day. It was possible the feeling had been produced by the painkillers she was taking, but she thought it was more likely to be Ethan.

By the evening, however, she was feeling less floaty and more worried.

"Are you okay?" said Sarah, when she walked into the bathroom to discover Emma sticking her tongue out at herself in the mirror.

"My throat feels a bit sore," said Emma.

Sarah looked at her in concern. "Does it look red?"

"I can't see," said Emma. "The rest of my mouth looks really disgusting, though. I can't imagine Ethan wanting to stick his tongue in it."

"Liar," said Sarah. "You're imagining it right now."

"Okay, maybe I am," said Emma. "But it still looks a bit gross."

"I'm sure Ethan's seen much more disgusting mouths than yours," said Sarah. "Do you want me to have a look?" She fetched a torch and shone it down Emma's throat. "Well, your mouth doesn't look any more disgusting than most people's mouths, but your throat does look a bit sore. Maybe you caught something in the hospital. That's the problem with hospitals. They're full of ill people."

Emma sighed. "I hope I'm not getting another cold. I only had one last month and I won't be able to kiss Ethan if I've got a cold."

Sarah gave her a hug, but Emma pushed her away.

"No, don't come near me! Not with your low white blood cells. Didn't Ethan say you were susceptible to colds?"

"He said I might be," said Sarah. "But he said the count was only slightly low. So I'll probably be fine. Why don't you go and lie down and I'll make you some hot lemon and honey?"

"Thanks," said Emma. "That sounds like a good idea."


	7. Chapter 7

**beckyboogle** , Ethan doesn't usually run away screaming when faced with ill people, but there's a first time for everything! I couldn't resist putting in the bit about the ballet dancer. Thank you for your review!

 **Tato Potato** , you'll see the first part of the date in this chapter, but there is more to come! Thank you for your review.

 **CBloom2** , thank you for your review. You could be right about someone being ill on the first date - perhaps it's just as well Cal and Ethan are doctors!

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review - I'm really happy you like it. I'm sure Cal has no idea how much like a ballet dancer he is already...

 **Tanith Panic** , just about anything can cause mayhem when I'm around! Just ask anyone who's met me. Thank you for your review.

 **ETWentHome** , thank you for your review. The blood results really could cause a lot of trouble! Though they are both admirably placed if they require medical help.

* * *

Cal couldn't stop smiling all day. Everyone assumed it was because he'd had a good night the night before and he decided they weren't exactly wrong. Even though he'd been alone in his bed, he'd been very happy and he'd dreamed of Sarah all night long.

He asked Ethan if he'd dreamed of Emma all night long. Ethan forbore to answer, though his blush told Cal everything he needed to know.

At last, seven o'clock arrived. Cal got changed and made his way out to the front of the hospital. To his delight, Sarah was getting out of the taxi. He enjoyed the sight, especially when she left something inside the taxi and had to bend over to get it, but he had a feeling it might be a good idea if he didn't tell Sarah how much he enjoyed it.

She turned and their eyes met. It was actually some minutes before Cal realised he hadn't even checked out her cleavage yet. For the first time in his life, Cal actually had trouble dragging his eyes downwards. She was wearing a short dress, heels and she had her hair loose. She looked stunning.

 _I've really landed on my feet this time_ , he thought happily. _Though I hope I'll be landing on my back at the end of the night._

Sarah cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted to him. "So, are you going to stand there and perve on me all night?"

"Definitely!" he shouted back, before almost running to meet her. "Though I'd rather do it from up close."

"It's less strain on the eyes that way," said Sarah.

Cal kissed her on the cheek. "My eyes feel more dazzled than strained. You look gorgeous! I thought you were hot when I saw you in the hospital, but now…"

"Now, what?" said Sarah.

"Now, you look incredible," said Cal softly. He smiled and posed slightly as he waited for her to return the compliment.

Sarah looked at him sympathetically. "Stiff neck?"

"No!" Cal hurriedly rearranged his pose. "I just thought, you know, that you might like to tell me how hot I look."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Sarah. "I assumed you'd told yourself that already. Probably more than once."

Cal felt a little bit embarrassed as he realised she was probably right, but he was still smiling. "Wait till you see my car. It's a two-seater."

"Really? What a relief!" said Sarah.

Cal put his arm loosely around her shoulders. "You like two-seaters, then?"

"What I like is men who aren't obsessed with getting busy in the back seat," said Sarah. "But as you don't even have a back seat, you're obviously not like that at all!"

* * *

Ethan parked his car outside Emma's house. He checked his appearance nervously in the mirror and wished he hadn't. No matter how often he looked, he never started looking like Cal.

He took his glasses off to see if that made an improvement. He decided it did. All he could see now was a blur and that was a definite improvement.

But he knew he wouldn't get very far without being able to see. He'd only trip over or try to kiss the wrong girl.

If he was brave enough to kiss Emma. He really wasn't sure about that yet.

He returned his glasses to his face, made a point of _not_ looking in the mirror, and got out of the car. There was a nervous fluttering inside his stomach and his heart was thumping hard enough for him to feel it. He brushed his hands down the suit he'd changed into after his shift (in the interests of ensuring his confidence didn't drop even lower, he hadn't let Cal see the suit) and breathed deeply a couple of times.

 _You can do this, Ethan. Just be yourself… or on second thoughts, don't be yourself. She might like you better as someone else._

He looked at his watch and was horrified to discover it was 7.31. He was never late. He ran to the door and rang the bell.

Emma opened it before he'd lowered his hand from the bell. What a coincidence that he'd rung the bell just when she'd happened to be standing right beside the door.

"Hello, Ethan," said Emma, barely audibly.

"Hello, Emma," said Ethan.

They stared at one another. Ethan started to feel a bit wobbly. He hoped he wasn't ill.

"You look beautiful," said Ethan.

"So do you," breathed Emma. A horrified look came over her face. "No, handsome! I mean handsome!"

"Either way: thank you very much," said Ethan.

"And thank you," said Emma. "For saying I'm beautiful. And for coming to pick me up. It's really nice of you. I just don't know if I should go."

Ethan was so disappointed, he couldn't speak for a moment or two. "We don't have to go out if you don't want to."

"No, I do want to," said Emma. "I want to go out more than anything. It's just I've got a sore throat. I wouldn't want to infect you."

Ethan smiled. "If I was worried about things like that, I'd be in the wrong job. My only concern is whether you're well enough to go out. I'm very happy to stay in – or to postpone it till you're feeling better."

"No, I feel fine," said Emma. "I was just worried about you."

"There's no need," said Ethan. He thought about taking her hand but didn't quite dare. "But will you promise to let me know if you start to feel ill?"

Emma looked reluctant, but then she nodded. "Okay."

"Now let's both hope you won't have to, for your sake." Ethan turned and gestured towards the car. "Shall we?"

He stood back to let Emma go ahead of him. This messed up his plan of opening the car door for Emma, but his consolation was that she was smiling as though she really didn't mind.

* * *

Cal took Sarah to a lovely restaurant with attentive waiting staff and lovely food. Sarah really enjoyed herself. Cal told her a bit of his career, dwelling particularly on moments such as rescuing girls from a limousine that was hanging off the side of a bridge.

Sarah was deeply impressed by his courage, but as she was less impressed by his modesty, she kept these thoughts to herself and displayed only moderate enthusiasm.

If Cal was disappointed, he hid it very well.

Sarah hoped that Cal might display some interest in her life, but he was still talking about himself when the meal came to an end. Cal summoned the waiter and asked for the bill.

"I'll pay, of course," said Cal.

"I'm glad to hear it," said Sarah. "A gentleman should always pay for his own meal. But if you think you're going to pay for mine, you've got another think coming."

Cal looked a bit surprised. "Why don't you want me to pay for your meal? I don't usually get complaints."

"It just doesn't seem fair," said Sarah. "We don't even know if we like each other yet."

"I know I like you!" said Cal, a hurt expression on his face.

Sarah, touched despite herself, touched Cal's hand. "And I like you too, but this is our first date and I don't know you well enough to be sure you won't want something in return for a free meal."

"You pay me back with your company," said Cal.

Sarah laughed. "You do say the lines very well, Cal, but couldn't you think of something a bit more original?"

"I'm not being unoriginal." Cal slid his hand along the table towards hers. "I really do mean every word."

"How many times have you said that before?" said Sarah.

Cal's eyes held hers. "I haven't said it for a very long time. I had my heart broken five or six months ago. There hasn't really been anyone since."

Sarah looked at him suspiciously, but he did seem genuine. A lot more genuine than he seemed when he was dolling out clichés. "I suppose I should be honoured."

"No," said Cal, as he captured her hand in his. His eyes and voice were passionate. "I'm the one who's honoured."

Sarah couldn't help it. She started to laugh.

* * *

Ethan smiled at Emma over the top of his menu. "So, what would you like?"

 _You_ , thought Emma, and quickly sunk her eyes below her menu before he could embarrass her to death by reading her mind.

Doctors probably could do that.

"What would you recommend?" said Emma, under the pretence of examining the menu. "Maybe something with Vitamin C in it?"

"It is very important to ensure you have Vitamin C in your diet," said Ethan, "but in actual fact, Vitamin C does very little to shorten or decrease the effects of a cold. According to a 2007 study, if you take Vitamin C every day, an adult suffers from a cold for approximately eleven days a year. Without it, the average is twelve days. So you see, it makes very little difference and, if taken in large quantities, Vitamin C can actually be harmful, producing various effects such as stomach pain and… and things I don't think I should be discussing at the dinner table."

Emma gazed at him in delight.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" said Ethan, going adorably red. "I'm lecturing you again, aren't I?"

"No, I think it's really interesting!" said Emma. "So, what should I eat?"

"Nothing too hot as this could irritate your throat further," said Ethan. "Something cool and soft is probably best."

"Oh, something like you then," said Emma without thinking.

Then she cringed and put her menu over her place again.

"Thank you," said Ethan. "I don't think anyone's ever said I was cool before."

Emma didn't want to embarrass himself, but she also didn't want Ethan to feel sad. "Some people don't like stating the obvious."

"That's very true," said Ethan, though his smile told Emma he didn't think it was true in his case. He gestured towards her menu. "Seen anything you fancy?"

 _Yes: you!_ "How about a salad?" said Emma.

Ethan shook his head. "Raw fruits and vegetables aren't a good idea for sore throats. They're quite acidic. But there's a nice creamed soup you could have, or mashed potatoes or scrambled eggs are quite good."

Emma smiled shyly at him. "Thank you, Ethan. I think I'll try the soup."

"Good choice," said Ethan. "It really is souper."

Emma didn't stop laughing for ages.


	8. Chapter 8

**Tato Potato** , thank you so much - I'm really happy you're enjoying it. I love Cal's and Ethan's personalities (though not just their personalities) so it's lovely to know I'm getting those right!

 **beckyboogle** , thank you for your review. I'm glad you like the soup joke. It's not the most original, but I couldn't resist and I didn't think Ethan would resist either!

 **Tanith Panic** , finally, I've written something feminist! I'm really glad you like that part. I think I'd like your brother-in-law! Thank you for your review and your very kind words.

 **CBloom2** , thank you for your review. I agree about Cal needing real happiness with a girl- he's been denied it so far in my stories as well as on TV! He needs to sort his attitude out a little bit, but maybe Sarah can tame him.

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review - I'm really happy you're enjoying it. I'm trying to keep the action fairly evenly between the two couples - I'm glad it's working!

 **ETWentHome** , I'm glad you like the similarities between the couples - often it's more interesting to see opposites attracting, but I thought the similarities would work better for this story. Thank you for your review!

* * *

Cal was smiling as he drove away from the restaurant. He knew he'd got something very special lined up for Sarah.

It was just a shame he wasn't going to enjoy it. He'd much rather be taking her to a club where they could drink like fish, dance like crazy and then go back to his flat for some extra fun, but he wanted to make Sarah happy. She'd told him one thing she really enjoyed when they were in the hospital and that was what they were going to do.

"What's so funny?" said Sarah. "If I've got something stuck in my teeth, I'm going to kill you for lying when I asked you if I had something stuck in my teeth."

Cal shook his head. "Nothing like that. I'm just looking forward to seeing your face when you find out where we're going."

"Just to warn you," said Sarah. "If you're expecting me to squeal with excitement and smother you with grateful kisses, you're going to be disappointed."

"Well, I hope there might be some kisses later on," said Cal. "And maybe even some squealing too."

Sarah gave him another look.

"But obviously, the squealing won't be taking place tonight," said Cal quickly. "We can save that for another date."

"If I want to go out with you again."

"If you want to go out with me again." Cal felt a little bit sad.

Sarah patted his arm. "Don't worry! I haven't completely decided against a second date. I just think we should concentrate on enjoying tonight and let the future take care of itself."

Cal nodded in agreement. That was a sentiment he would usually have identified with. One date was usually enough for Cal Knight. But he had a feeling it would be different this time.

"Here we are," announced Cal as he drove into a car park.

"Oh, we're going to the cinema?" said Sarah.

Cal nodded smugly. "But we're not going to see any old film. We're going to see _Calavo Din-Hero_."

There was a smile playing around Sarah's lips. It made Cal want to kiss them. "Do you mean _Cavalo Dinheiro_?"

"Yes, that's what I said," said Cal. "There are lots of different Spanish accents, you know?"

"Portuguese," said Sarah.

Cal laughed. "Just testing you."

"Right." Sarah continued to look amused, but it didn't last. "Hold on: you brought me to see a foreign film?"

Cal smiled. "Yes, I did."

There was a pause. Then: "Lovely," said Sarah.

* * *

Ethan was nervous. The place they were going now really wasn't his sort of place at all and the thought of going there without Cal completely terrified him (even though he invariably lost sight of Cal as soon as they entered). He also couldn't quite imagine Emma being into this sort of thing, but he knew he couldn't expect his tastes to agree with Emma's in every particular. The fact they were both on the shy side, had a similar sense of humour and enjoyed medical discussions was more than he'd dared hope for.

"I hope you'll like where we're going," said Ethan. "I've never actually been there myself… though of course I've been to other, similar places. But I've heard the facilities are excellent."

Emma stared at him.

Ethan began to feel nervous. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh, right: I get it now!" said Emma. "Sorry. You said the facilities were excellent and I thought you meant, you know, the loos. So I was a bit surprised. But facilities can mean other things too."

"Oh, right, yes. Sorry. That was a very bad choice of words," said Ethan, blushing. "I was thinking more of the, um… well, I'm not quite sure what I mean really."

"It doesn't matter," said Emma. "We'll find out when we get there."

Ethan parked the car some distance from the venue and they walked down the road together. His hand brushed against hers. "Oh, I'm sorry!" he said untruthfully as he started having palpitations (in the colloquial rather than the medical sense).

"No, it was my fault," said Emma.

"No, really, it was mine," said Ethan. "I was… Sorry. Anyway: here we are!"

Emma looked shocked. "We're going clubbing?"

Ethan nodded, trying to look enthusiastic. "You said in the hospital that you liked clubbing. And so do I. Obviously. I… love a bit of clubbing. There's... there's nothing like getting so drunk, you forget you can't dance."

"Oh. I mean, thank you very much for bringing me here," said Emma.

* * *

Sarah was dying of boredom. The film must have been on for at least eight hours and Cal hadn't tried to grope her once. Not that she'd been planning on encouraging overmuch groping, but she'd hoped he'd at least hold her hand or give her a cuddle.

It was starting to get worrying. Cal was usually so tactile.

Then Sarah wondered what was wrong with her. Who said it was up to the man to make the first move? True, she didn't want to stroke Cal's ego any more than he was doing himself, but maybe he was a bit shy underneath all that swagger. Men who seemed as confident as Cal very often weren't.

Maybe his broken heart had affected him more deeply than it seemed.

Sarah put her hand on Cal's knee. Cal didn't respond.

Oh, great. He must be so engrossed in the film, he'd forgotten she was there. But she was sure she could remind him. She moved her hand up his thigh just slightly.

Still nothing.

"Cal, you aren't asleep, are you?" said Sarah.

Cal jumped. "What? Am I asleep? No. No, of course not. Definitely not. No. I was just lost in the film."

Sarah sighed. Cal had seemed so perfect. He'd seemed fun and flirtatious and possibly even as good-looking as he thought he was. Dinner had been great. But it was bad enough sitting through foreign films with Emma without having to go with her boyfriend too. You couldn't choose your twin sisters: you could only love them as they were and Sarah definitely loved Emma. She was glad that foreign films made Emma so happy. But with your boyfriend, you could at least try for perfection.

She tried putting her hand on Cal's knee again, but he was lost in the film once more.

* * *

Emma had never felt so uncomfortable. It was bad enough going clubbing with Sarah. She didn't really enjoy being squashed into a mass of sweaty bodies while she tried to move her body in ways it was never meant to be moved. But it was worth it to make her twin sister happy.

She now discovered clubbing was a million times worse when she was dancing with someone she really wanted to like her. She knew he probably couldn't tell if she could dance or not: the flashing coloured lights made it very difficult to see anything properly and even Ethan looked like quite a bad dancer in this lighting.

Every so often, he shouted something into her ear that she couldn't catch. She'd tried asking him to repeat it, but he was still too quiet so Emma had resorted to nodding and smiling. She actually quite liked it when he leaned close to her as he was wearing gorgeous-smelling cologne and she could feel his breath on her ear, but it bothered her that she had no idea what he was saying. She could be agreeing to have sex with him in the alley for all she knew – though she had to admit it didn't seem very likely. Not with Ethan.

Ethan leaned close to her and shouted again. Emma smiled and nodded. Ethan put his hand lightly on her arm and guided her through the swaying bodies.

 _Oh God,_ thought Emma. _I hope we're not going out to the alley_.

She was very relieved to find they were heading for the bar instead.

Ethan shouted again. To her surprise, Emma found she could understand it. "WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRINK?"

"MINERAL WATER, PLEASE!" Emma screamed back.

Ethan smiled. "I'M HAVING MINERAL WATER TOO, BUT PLEASE DON'T SHOUT ANY MORE THAN YOU HAVE TO. I DON'T WANT YOU TO HURT YOUR THROAT."

Emma smiled at him gratefully. Ethan really was so kind.

It took a while to get the drinks. Ethan seemed too polite to push and shove like everyone else, but eventually, he realised he wasn't getting anywhere and became a bit more aggressive.

A man swung round. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PUSHING, SHRIMP?"

"OH, UM, NO-ONE," said Ethan, who was a good foot shorter than the guy. "WELL, UM, YOU, I SUPPOSE, BUT I DIDN'T MEAN TO. MY GIRLFRIEND IS THIRSTY. NO. NOT MY GIRLFRIEND. I MEAN MY DATE. I'M TERRIBLY SORRY. I REALLY CAN'T APOLOGISE ENOUGH."

Emma watched in horror. What if the man tried to fight Ethan? She couldn't imagine Ethan being any good in a fight, unless he was treating everyone's injuries afterwards.

The man looked at Ethan for a moment, then he laughed and patted him on the shoulder. Then he turned and grabbed a couple of the guys in front of him. "OUT OF THE WAY, LADS. GENTLEMAN COMING THROUGH."

Ethan was blushing cutely as he made his way to the bar, nodding and smiling and thanking each of the guys on the way. Emma decided that he probably hadn't been clubbing with a girl before. It was more usual to go with your mates. Cal seemed like the type to enjoy clubbing.

There were no empty seats in the bar area, but Emma was quite happy to stand up. She and Ethan stood together and shouted at each other (though Ethan encouraged Emma to nod and save her voice wherever possible) till they'd finished their drinks.

"DO YOU FEEL WELL ENOUGH TO CONTINUE DANCING?" said Ethan.

Emma hesitated. She knew she could say no. Then she wouldn't have to dance anymore.

But she didn't want to lie to Ethan. She didn't want to disappoint him either and she thought she probably did feel well enough to dance. She nodded her head.

"RIGHT. GREAT. LET'S GO BACK AND DANCE," said Ethan.

Emma sighed. A few moments later, Ethan was throwing shapes on the dancefloor while Emma bobbed up and down awkwardly on the spot.

She liked Ethan. She really did. But if Ethan wanted to go clubbing all the time, maybe they weren't right for each other after all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Tato Potato** , thank you for your review. I'm enjoying writing a story when the characters don't have any agenda apart from caring about each other and getting to know each other. It makes a nice change from all the drama!

 **Tanith Panic** , I think there's something rather charming about Ethan that some people just can't resist! I'm sure I couldn't. I'm a bit of a zombie too - I have trouble going to performances with other people because they want to talk in the interval and I'm still lost in the performance! Thank you for your review.

 **CBloom2** , I'm glad you liked the mixed-up dates! Identical twins are fun. And yes, it's definitely possible that something will happen to Ethan. Even in a comedy there has to be some suffering! Thank you for your review.

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review. I'm glad you're enjoying it - it's fair to say that Cal and Ethan are entering into the dates with enthusiasm, even if the enthusiasm isn't genuine!

 **ETWentHome** , thank you for your review. I think Sarah and Emma probably are a little bit put off by their boyfriend's choice of date at the moment - but things could change!

* * *

Sarah hoped the film would be over soon. She wouldn't have believed it possible, but watching a foreign film with Cal was even worse than watching one with Emma. At least Emma talked to her sometimes. She even laughed at Sarah's disparaging comments sometimes.

Cal wasn't any fun at all.

Then Sarah felt Cal's arm touch her shoulder.

She smiled. This was more like it. She waited for Cal's arm to go around her shoulders, but it didn't. It just rested there.

That was odd.

Actually, it didn't feel like an arm at all. It was much too heavy and a very funny place to put your arm.

Sarah breathed in sharply as she realised what it was. It was Cal's head. He'd put her head on her shoulder.

And why not? she thought. Girls put their heads on guys' shoulders all the time so why shouldn't the reverse happen?

Sarah smiled to herself. If they were going to reverse roles, they should do it properly. She put her arms around Cal's shoulders (which really were incredibly muscular) and kissed his head. "There, baby. I'll look after you," she whispered.

Cal began to snore.

* * *

The last thing Emma wanted was to spoil Ethan's fun, but she really wasn't feeling that great. She was tired, her throat was aching and her nose felt a bit blocked. She wondered if she should say something, but Ethan seemed to be having such a good time. He was throwing himself into the dance with enthusiasm and whenever the flashing lights allowed her to see his face, he always seemed to have a big grin on it.

No. She couldn't ask him to go home now. It was too early and she doubted she had much chance of making him hear her anyway.

Emma carried on dancing, but it was difficult to find the energy. It didn't help that she was finding it difficult to breathe through her nose. The club seemed almost unbearably hot and even when she stopped dancing, the room continued to spin.

 _I will not faint on my date_ , Emma told herself.

Her nose began to tickle.

 _I will not sneeze on my date either._

She turned her back on Ethan and tried to get her tissue out of her bra, but it seemed to be stuck. The tickle in her nose became more alarming and Emma pulled on the tissue, desperate to get it out before she sneezed.

At last, the tissue finally responded to her frantic tugging. She sneezed into it, wiped her nose and turned back to Ethan, hoping he was too absorbed in the dance to notice.

Ethan and was looking at her in concern. His face was bright red. He gestured towards... well, her chest. That didn't seem like Ethan.

Emma looked down, wondering what had happened.

Then she realised.

She hadn't fainted on her date. She hadn't sneezed on her date.

But she _had_ torn her dress and flashed him.

* * *

Cal woke up from a very nice dream to find Sarah shaking his arm. "What? Where? Who?"

"We need to go; we're at the cinema; and I'm Sarah, _your date_ ," said Sarah in a deeply unimpressed tone.

"Date?" said Cal, confused. "It's sometime in September, isn't it?"

Sarah's voice hardened still further. "Your cinema date."

"What cinema? Where are we?"

"AT THE CINEMA!" shouted Sarah.

Cal had to admit he was slightly hurt to be shouted at. It wasn't his fault he didn't know what was going on. "If we're at the cinema, should you really be shouting?"

"Oh, let's just go!" Sarah stood up and started to walk away.

Cal got up and tried to follow her, but his coat fell off his lap and he nearly tripped over it. "Sarah! Wait!"

He blundered along the row and made for the exit sign. To his relief, when he emerged into the light, he found Sarah waiting for him. She looked annoyed.

"Have I done something wrong?" said Cal.

"You took me to the cinema and you slept all the way through the film!" said Sarah.

"What film?" said Cal.

" _Cavalo Dinheiro_!" said Sarah.

It was coming back to Cal now. That boring foreign thing which he'd sat through just to make her happy.

Though if he really had slept through it, maybe he couldn't blame her for being a little bit annoyed. "I'm sorry."

Sarah seemed to thaw a little. "Please continue."

Cal blinked at her. He'd already apologised: what else did she want? "I'm very sorry for falling asleep during our date. It won't happen again."

A light came into Sarah's eye. "I've got an idea. How about we just don't come and see this kind of film again? I mean, you obviously didn't enjoy it."

"Oh no. Not at all. I absolutely…" Cal caught her eye. He knew he wasn't fooling anyone. "I hated it. Sorry. I just really wanted to impress you and I know you love foreign films."

Sarah shook her head in confusion. "No, I don't. I hate them."

Cal stared at her in amazement. "Didn't you say you were seeing a foreign film at the weekend?"

"I might have said that," said Sarah. "But only to keep my sister company. I don't actually like them."

"So you were as bored as I was?" said Cal in delight.

"At least!" said Sarah. "I just had better manners than to fall asleep."

"Sorry," said Cal.

Sarah smiled and hugged him. "I'll tell you what. Let's go for a drink and tell each other all the things we do enjoy."

Cal looked at her in growing hope. "Does that mean you want to see me again?"

"It means I haven't completely decided to say no," said Sarah. She smiled. "It's not quite the same as saying yes, but it's the best you're going to get after falling asleep on me."

"What if things between us go really well?" said Cal. "And… I know I'm thinking way ahead here, but what if we end up being together in the sort of place where most people go to sleep? Assuming we've got all the, um, interaction out of the way, am I allowed to fall asleep on you then?"

Sarah laughed and pressed her lips lightly to his. "You're sweet, Cal. I'll give you that. How about we worry about that _if_ it happens?"

* * *

Ethan helped Emma towards the cloakroom. He was still desperately embarrassed, but when he saw the tears in her eyes, he put his arm around her. "Don't cry. I'm sure everyone was too drunk to notice and you can't tell when you're holding it with your hand."

"I feel so stupid," said Emma.

"There's no need," said Ethan. "It can happen to anyone." He rubbed her shoulder. "I'll go and get our coats."

He had Emma's cloakroom receipt so he handed them both to the attendant. He was given his own coat and Emma's handbag.

"Didn't you have a coat, Emma?"

Emma shook her head.

"You have now," said Ethan, and helped her on with his coat, holding her close to the wall so no-one could walk past and see what had happened to her dress. "There. It suits you. It matches your eyes."

Emma gave him a confused look. "Ethan, your coat's black."

"Oh, right. Yes. Of course. Sorry," said Ethan. He'd said it because he'd always thought it was a romantic thing to say, but perhaps it didn't work unless it was true. "It… contrasts with your eyes?"

Emma gave a shaky laugh, then coughed.

"Are you all right?" Ethan peered into her face. "You look awful."

Emma's eyes filled again.

"I probably shouldn't have gone out with you," said Ethan sadly. "It was a silly idea."

Emma started to cry.

"Oh, sweetheart, it's okay," said Ethan.

"Of course it's okay," sobbed Emma. "It's not your fault you think I'm ugly and you wish you'd never gone out with me."

Ethan stared at her. "I didn't say that! Did I? I didn't mean to. I think you're beautiful and the only reason I regret going out with you is because you're not really well enough to go out."

Emma stopped crying. "Really?"

"Really," said Ethan. He put his arm around her. "Come on. I'll take you home. We can come back here when you're better."

"That would be really, um… lovely," said Emma.

Ethan sensed unwillingness. It hurt him, but he really couldn't blame her. "Only if you want to. If you don't want to see me again, I quite understand. I know I'm a terrible dancer and to tell you the truth, I don't even enjoy clubbing that much, but I wanted you to be happy."

"Really?" said Emma, her eyes wide.

"I really am sorry," said Ethan.

Emma smiled at him conspiratorially. "I'm not."

"You're not?" said Ethan. "Oh. Yes. I understand." It probably wasn't worth her being sorry if she wasn't going to see him again.

"I feel the same way," said Emma.

"The same way as… me?" Ethan couldn't believe it. Was she saying she liked him?

Emma nodded. "Completely. I don't really like clubbing either."

"Oh, right. You feel the same way about clubbing," said Ethan, disappointed. "Yes. Of course. That was what you meant." But he was frowning as he unlocked the car door. "I thought you said you were going clubbing at the weekend."

"I might be," said Emma. "But only to keep my sister company."

"But you don't actually like it?" said Ethan, just to check.

"No," said Emma. "I'm sorry. It was really nice of you to bring me here when you hated it. And when I'm all germy."

Ethan smiled and opened the car door for her. "It was really nice of you to come with me when you hated it. And when you're not very well." He smiled and went round to his side of the car. "I really think you need to go home and rest, so with extreme regret, I'll take you home. Oh, um, when I say extreme regret, I mean that I regret having to take you home. I don't regret going out with you. At all."

"I don't regret it either," said Emma. "At all."

They looked at one another.

Ethan leaned forward very slowly, giving Emma plenty of time to move away, but she actually seemed to be moving towards him.

They kissed.

It was the sweetest kiss Ethan had ever experienced.

Much sweeter than honey.


	10. Chapter 10

**Tanith Panic** , I think I'd probably rather sneeze on Ethan than flash Ethan... he's much more used to illness than underwear! But it is a very close-run thing. Thank you for your review - I'm really happy you're enjoying it. I wish someone would make this into a romcom - that would be amazing!

 **beckyboogle** , thank you for your review - I'm really glad you're enjoying it so much. I'm afraid not much happens in this chapter, but things should get more exciting in Chapter 11.

 **CBloom2** , thank you for your review. It really means a lot that you like the couples - I'm not sure that many girls are good enough for Cal and Ethan! I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

 **X-Sammii-X** , I'm glad you found Cal falling asleep believable. I have to agree: Ethan is definitely a sweetheart and I hope I'm doing him justice. Thank you for your review.

 **Tato Potato** , you'll find out in this chapter whether either or both couples have a second date planned! I'm really happy you like both the couples. Thank you for your review.

 **ETWentHome** , thank you for your review. It is good they managed to be honest - some couples go on pretending for years! Luckily, I think Cal and Ethan are far too relieved to feel offended!

* * *

Sarah was feeling very happy when she arrived home. She'd done her best to let Cal know he was still on very thin ice with her, but she had agreed to see him again tomorrow.

She felt a lot less happy when she realised Emma was lying on the sofa with tissues and throat sweets. "Emma, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Emma. "I'm just exhausted. Ethan took me clubbing."

"What, seriously?" said Sarah. "I wouldn't have said Ethan was the clubbing type at all. He told me he was a terrible dancer."

"I couldn't really tell if he was good or not," admitted Emma. "He didn't look that good, but the lighting was really weird." She started to sit up.

Sarah pushed her back down again. "You stay right there and rest." She sat on the floor beside the sofa. "You'll never guess where Cal took me! You're going to be so jealous."

"To the cinema to see a foreign film?" said Emma.

Sarah couldn't help feeling slightly put out. The trouble with being twins was that they did sometimes read each other's minds. "Yes."

"No!" exclaimed Emma.

"Maybe we've got the wrong guys," said Sarah jokingly. "Want to swap?"

Emma shook her head firmly. "No. Ethan's perfect. He admitted afterwards that he hates clubbing and he only took me because he thought I liked it."

"That's so weird!" said Sarah. "Cal took me to the film because he thought I'd like it."

"Did he like it?" said Emma.

"No. He was so bored, he fell asleep!" said Sarah. "He ended up snoring all over my shoulder. He's so lucky he didn't dribble or I'd never have agreed to see him tomorrow. I very nearly didn't agree anyway - I didn't want him to think I was over-eager. But I think he has promise as a boyfriend and there's nothing wrong with the way he looks. So very kindly agreed to see him as he'd asked so nicely."

Emma smiled. "I'm glad you're seeing him again. I think it's a good sign if your boyfriend is prepared to suffer something he hates to make you happy."

Sarah hadn't thought of that. "That's a good point. Maybe I should have been a bit more appreciative. But lovely as Cal is, he does have a little arrogance problem going on so I do need to treat him a little bit mean."

"Treat him mean to keep him keen?" said Emma.

"Oh, no. Treat him mean to keep _me_ keen!" said Sarah. "If he gets any more in love with himself, I'll just have to break up with him." She paused. "Which would be a shame because he is really sweet when he forgets to show off how gorgeous he thinks he is."

"I'm sure you can handle him," said Emma. "Figuratively."

"I can handle him literally too if I have to!" said Sarah. "So, when are you seeing Ethan again?"

Emma blushed. "Tomorrow. We're going to the cinema. Ethan loves foreign films."

"Emma, that's brilliant!" said Sarah, and hugged her. "I never have to see one of those awful films ever again!"

"Unless it doesn't work out with Ethan," said Emma.

"Then I'll just have to hope it does work out with Ethan," said Sarah, and hugged her again. "But not because of the films, Emma. Because I want you to be happy."

"I want you to be happy too," said Emma emotionally.

Sarah smiled. "Then I've got good news for you. I haven't been so happy for ages! Just don't tell Cal. Now go to bed. If you infect me I'm not going to forgive you for at least three hours and if you stay up too late and make yourself too tired to go out with Ethan tomorrow, I'm not going to forgive you for three days!"

* * *

Ethan was in his room when Cal arrived home. Cal had slightly mixed feelings about that. He really wanted to boast to his little brother about what a great night he'd had and how much Sarah liked him, but he still wasn't completely sure if she liked him or not. It would be okay telling Max and Lofty because he could lie and they'd believe every word, but it was a lot more difficult to deceive Ethan.

He went to bed and got out his phone, hoping for a text from Sarah to say she'd had a good time. He hadn't heard any new texts coming in, but he'd managed to convince himself he might not have heard her over the noise of the car radio.

There were no new texts.

Cal waited for a little while, but no text was forthcoming. He wondered if she'd run out of credit or her battery was flat. If so, it might take her as much as an hour to text him.

But an hour later, there was still no text. Cal was starting to worry. He'd dropped her off outside her house, but she'd told him not to see her to the door because she was perfectly capable of walking up her own drive. "You're going to walk up your drive on your own, aren't you? So why shouldn't I?"

Cal hadn't been quite brave enough to say something that could be construed as sexist, so he'd said he'd stay outside the house and watch through the window till she got inside, but Sarah hadn't been keen on that idea either and had told him she wasn't going anywhere till he'd gone.

Eventually, Cal had decided there was nothing for it but to do as she said, but now he was starting to regret it. What if she'd forgotten her keys or something? Cal knew she had a sister, but he hadn't asked if they lived together. Girls tended to take it amiss when Cal asked questions about their sisters and female friends.

In the end, he was so worried, he went and knocked on Ethan's door. "Nibbles, I don't know what to do."

Ethan opened his eyes and sighed. "Go to bed and tell me about it in the morning."

"No, this is serious," said Cal, and explained his problem.

"Cal, I'm sure she's fine," said Ethan. "But if you're worried, you could always phone her."

"Of course I can't!" said Cal, shocked.

"Why not?"

"Because that's going to look over-eager, isn't it?" said Cal. "Maybe _you_ don't care about that kind of thing, but I do."

Ethan shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm going back to sleep."

"But why hasn't she phoned me?" said Cal.

"I don't know… perhaps she doesn't want to look over-eager," said Ethan.

Cal stared at him in amazement. "Don't be stupid. Why would she worry about something like that?" He laughed. "I can tell your last two girlfriends were a murderess and a girl who was more interested in your job than in you."

"I suggest you stop teasing me before I remind you what your last girlfriend was."

"What was wrong with my last…. Oh right. Yes. Okay. Teasing over."

Ethan, curse him, looked like he was going to laugh, but then he put his hand over his mouth and coughed instead.

"Are you okay?" said Cal, worried. "Are you ill? I hope you didn't give Emma any germs. Girls tend not to react well to that."

"I really don't think there's any need to worry about that," said Ethan.

Cal groaned. "Ethan, _don't_ tell me you didn't even kiss her."

"I'm not going to tell you anything relating to kissing," said Ethan. "It's none of your business."

"Ethan, I only asked about kissing!" said Cal. "I didn't ask you if you pushed her against the wall and tore her dress off her, did I?"

To his complete shock, Ethan blushed.

"You _didn't_!" said Cal.

"No, I didn't," said Ethan. "It wasn't me."

Cal gasped. "You let some other guy tear her dress off?"

"No, she tore it off," explained Ethan.

Cal felt completely shocked all over again. " _She_ tore it off? Ethan, are you seriously telling me that you and Emma… on the _first date_?"

"Are you saying you _didn't_ on the first date?" said Ethan.

"I'm not saying anything," said Cal. "It's none of your business." He felt almost offended. How _dare_ Ethan sleep with his girlfriend when Cal hadn't been able to sleep with his? That was just unfair. It was wrong. It shouldn't be allowed to happen.

"Cal, close your mouth," said Ethan. "You might catch a fly."

Cal sighed. "Maybe I should catch a fly. It's not like I can catch a girl at the moment."

Ethan looked sympathetic. "Didn't it go well?"

"It went brilliantly!" said Cal. "Under the circumstances."

Ethan coughed again, but this time, he didn't cover his smile quickly enough.

Cal glared at him. "Oh, great. So there I was, worrying about my little brother's health, and all the time you were laughing at me."

"Sorry," said Ethan. The fact he sounded like he meant it was little consolation. "What did you mean: 'under the circumstances'?"

"I might have fallen asleep on her shoulder when we were watching the film," said Cal.

"So you did sleep with her," said Ethan.

Cal stared at him for a moment, then a smile spread across his face. "You're right. I did! We went into a darkened room and I slept with her! Or maybe I'll just say I slept with her in the cinema. That should impress the lads." His phone beeped. "And I bet that's a text from her right now!" He opened it. _Hi gorgeous, I hope you're thinking about me as much as I'm thinking about you. Love Dylan_. WHAT?"

Ethan laughed. "Oh, so that's who you were with."

"It's a wrong number!" shouted Cal.

"Of course it is," said Ethan soothingly, but his eyes were full of mischief.

"Ethan, if you even think of telling anyone about this, I'll tell them… well, I don't know what I'm going to tell them, but it's going to be good!" said Cal.

Ethan patted his arm. "Come on, Caleb. I'm not that unkind. Do you seriously think I'd do something like that to Dylan?"

Cal stomped off to his room. He was so annoyed with Ethan (for some reason, the text message seemed to be his fault too), he forgot all about not texting Sarah and accidentally sent her a message saying he'd had a really good time and he was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.

By the following morning, he still hadn't had a reply.

That was Ethan's fault too.


	11. Chapter 11

**Tanith Panic** , there will most definitely be trouble ahead! I hope you enjoy reading about it. Thank you for your review.

 **CBloom2** , no, Cal can't cope at all! But I'm sure it's character-building. Not that I don't love Cal's character. Thank you for your review!

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review. Ethan was cruel to let Cal think that, but does Cal deserve it? Probably!

 **Tato Potato** , thank you for your review. I'm so happy you're enjoying the story and that you can relate to Emma.

 **beckyboogle** , I'm so happy you're finding it exciting! You'll find out about the second dates in this chapter. Thank you for your review.

 **ETWentHome** , thank you for your review. I don't think Cal is used to having a girlfriend who doesn't constantly tell him he's wonderful!

* * *

Sarah finally texted Cal at lunchtime. She didn't say anything about having a lovely time last night (though she did say she was glad Cal had enjoyed himself) and also made no apology for taking so long to reply. However, she did confirm their agreement to meet him at the hospital after Cal's shift, so he decided to be grateful for what he could get. He tried telling himself that Sarah's behaviour annoyed him, but it actually turned him on. He liked being the one doing all the chasing.

His only fear was that she might be leading him into some sort of trap. Cal didn't want to have his heart broken again.

* * *

Ethan and Emma had planned to go out that evening, but when Ethan had phoned Emma at lunchtime, her voice sounded very hoarse and he told her she mustn't think of going out.

"I could come and see you, though," he said shyly. "If you'd like me to. I quite understand if you don't feel well enough for visitors, but I could bring you something from the pharmacy. If you'd like me to."

"I'd love to see you," said Emma.

"I'd love to see you too."

* * *

When Cal's shift ended, he was thrilled to discover he had three texts from Sarah. He opened them eagerly, wondering if her texts from last night had just been very slow to arrive.

 _Hi Cal, I'm outside x_

 _Hi Cal, I'm still outside_

 _I am outside at the moment but I can't promise I'll be here for very much longer so sort it out Knight_

Cal got changed as quickly as he could and ran outside just in time to see Sarah walking away. "Sarah! Wait! I'm here!"

Sarah turned round. "And not before time."

"My shift has only just ended," said Cal. "Didn't I tell you I was working till 7.30 today?"

"You didn't tell me when your shift ended," said Sarah. "But as you asked to meet me at 7, I paid you the compliment of assuming you could tell the time."

Cal groaned. "Did I really say 7? Sorry, baby."

Sarah continued to look severe, but then she smiled and held out her arms. "Oh, okay. I'll forgive you this once."

Cal put his arms around her, very relieved – though his relief was very quickly replaced by excitement. "So, do you feel like you know me well enough to let me pay for your meal?"

"Oh, I think I can let you do that if it means so much to you," said Sarah.

"Thank you," said Cal, then frowned. Shouldn't that be her line?

"But of course," said Sarah, "I fully intend on paying for _your_ meal." She smiled. "It's only fair, isn't it?"

* * *

Ethan was smiling as he made his way out of the ED. He hadn't felt this happy for such a long time. He knew he and Emma had only had one date, and that had actually been a bit of a disaster, but he felt that if a couple could go out on a bad date and still want to see each other, it could only bode well for the future.

Then Ethan stumbled to a halt, his smile completely gone.

Standing in Cal's arms, almost certainly with her tongue down his throat, was Emma.

* * *

Cal smiled at Sarah. "Are you ready to go then?"

"I've been here for at least forty minutes," Sarah reminded him.

She could tell that threw him slightly, but it didn't take him that long to think of an answer. "I just thought maybe you're not ready to stop kissing me."

Sarah laughed. "I don't remember telling you you were _that_ good a kisser."

"Then either you forgot to tell me or I need lots more practise," said Cal, and pursed his lips. He looked adorable, but Sarah decided not to tell him so.

He probably already knew.

She grabbed his hand and they started walking. "Come on. Let's go. I'm hungry even if you're not."

"Oh, I'm definitely hungry," Cal assured her as they walked. "So, are you fussy about what you eat? Or do you just want something you can put in your mouth and swallow?"

"Oh, I definitely want something I can put in my mouth," said Sarah.

She could almost see Cal's pulse rate rise.

Sarah smiled to herself. "Something I can put in my mouth and take a great big bite out of and chew into tiny pieces. Oh, and swallow as well, of course."

Cal changed the subject.

* * *

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but as the taxi stopped outside the hospital, Emma began to have doubts.

She'd thought that, as she was feeling a bit better, it would be nice to surprise Ethan by going to meet him at the hospital.

But what if he was annoyed that she'd ignored his advice about staying in? Doctors did tend to know what they were talking about, after all.

But she was here now and it seemed a bit silly to go home again when there was a chance Ethan would be happy to see her. Emma got out of the taxi and made her way towards the ED entrance.

And then she saw him.

He was sitting on a bench outside the ED with his head in his hands.

* * *

Cal had been in two minds about which pub to take Sarah to for dinner. If they went to the one the ED staff usually frequented, he would have the chance to show off to everyone what a beautiful girlfriend he had. He hadn't had a girlfriend for a while, so he liked the idea of showing Max, Lofty and the others that he'd still got it.

But on the other hand, it probably wasn't quite the ideal venue for an intimate meal. He wouldn't put it past certain members of the ED to interrupt their meal by coming over and telling embarrassing stories about Cal. He had a feeling Sarah would enjoy that very much, but Cal wasn't at all sure that he would.

So he drove her to a different pub and now they were walking from the car park to the pub in the moonlight, their hands entwined. Cal couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this happy – though every minute he'd spent with Sarah had come pretty close.

"You look beautiful," said Cal as he gazed at her.

Sarah gave him a knowing look. "Come on, Cal. Out with it. What are you after? Apart from the obvious."

"Nothing," said Cal, a bit reproachfully. All he wanted now was to sit in the pub with her and look at her and think how lucky he was. He'd always thought she was beautiful, of course, but there was something different about her tonight. A sort of shimmering radiance. "I do genuinely think you look especially beautiful tonight." He paused for a while in thought, his gaze travelling upwards to the moon and back to Sarah's face. "I think it's because it's dark."

* * *

If Ethan had had any choice in the matter, he would not be sitting outside the ED, crying into his hands. He really wanted to get up, walk to his car like a sensible person, drive home and do his crying in bed like anyone else would.

But seeing the girl he was already half-in-love with kissing his brother was more than he could bear.

"Ethan, what's wrong?" said a voice.

A voice Ethan recognised.

Emma sat beside him and put his arm around him. "Did something happen with a patient?"

"Oh, just go away!" burst out Ethan. He didn't know she had the nerve to come here and act all caring after what she'd just done. She'd seemed so sweet. So perfect.

So fond of him.

It was all Ethan could do not to sob out loud.

There was a silence. Then Emma spoke, her voice unsteady. "Ethan, what's happened?"

Finally, Ethan found the strength to move. He jumped to his feet and glared at Emma as more tears fell from his eyes. "Just don't come near me ever again!" he said, and ran all the way to his car.

* * *

Sarah was surprised by how good a time she was having. Once Cal had stopped trying to show off how amazing he was and Sarah had stopped doing all she could to ensure his ego didn't get any bigger, they'd both relaxed and started having fun.

Cal was telling her all about his brother 'Nibbles' and how funny he was. He started off by telling a lot of stories about Nibbles embarrassing himself. Sarah told him off a few times for being mean, but then she realised that Cal actually had a lot of affection for Nibbles.

"He's always there for me, no matter what," said Cal, over his second bottle of wine. "No matter how many stupid messes I get myself into, he picks up the pieces. I actually had a pretty awful year until I met you. You might not think it to look at me, but I had a really awful year."

"Oh, don't worry," said Sarah sweetly. "I completely believe you." Then she reached for his hand. "I am sorry to hear that, Cal. You can tell me about it if you want to."

Cal poured another glass of wine. "I fell in love. Completely, hopelessly in love. More in love than I've ever been with anyone." He caught Sarah's eye. "Apart from myself, of course!"

Sarah squeezed his hand. "Of course."

"I thought she loved me too," said Cal. "But it turned out she was just after my money. Only I didn't have any. So she took my brother's money instead."

He looked genuinely upset. Sarah linked her fingers with his. "Cal, are you still in love with her?"

She told herself she didn't care what his answer was. It wasn't as though she was in love with him. No. Definitely not.

"I don't think so," said Cal. "But I am still kind of affected by it. I haven't let anyone get close to me since then because I'm scared of getting hurt. Not that I ever let anyone get close to me before then either because I was scared of getting tied down – I liked being tied up but not being tied down – but now I just want a special girl to share my life with."

Sarah looked at him closely. It could be just a line. Or it could be the alcohol. But she was inclined to believe him. She stroked his hand. "Cal, I can't promise to share my life with you. it's too soon to know about anything like that. But I promise you, I am absolutely, 100%, not the least bit interested in your money. If I wanted money, there's no way I'd settle for a hospital registrar. Why go after you when the country is crawling with Premier League footballers? I'm here with you because I like you."

Cal gave her a grateful smile. Quickly, he turned it into a more confident one. "So. I _finally_ made you admit it."

Sarah smiled. "But I made you admit quite a lot first."


	12. Chapter 12

_I'm afraid this chapter is quite a sad one, but I've tried to put in some funny bits too. (I know Ethan is a bit out of character, but it would mess the story up if I had to wait the usual six months for him to ask Emma out.)_

 **Tato Potato** , I'm sorry for the confusion! Ethan saw Cal kissing Sarah, but he thought she was Emma. So when Emma came up to him and started acting as through nothing was happened, he was very angry and upset. I hope this makes it clearer! Thank you for your review.

 **beckyboogle** , I'm sure they'll get back together once Ethan realises the truth, but it just hasn't occurred to Ethan that the girl who looks exactly like his girlfriend might be someone else! I don't think I'll be splitting Cal and Sarah up, but you never know! Thank you for your review.

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you so much - that's so kind of you to say that! I'm really glad you enjoyed the twin confusion and I really hope this chapter is up to standard.

 **ETWentHome** , yes, Ethan has got it very wrong! It might be a bit unrealistic, but in my experience, when I mention having a sister, no-one ever asks for her name or age. Cal and Ethan also have different surnames, which doesn't help! Thank you for your review.

 **CBloom2** , put Ethan out of his misery? I hope you don't mean I should kill him! Though considering the way he's feeling now, he'd probably like that. I'm afraid he's still miserable in this chapter, though he should be feeling better in the next chapter or two. Thank you for your review - I'm so happy you like it!

 **Tanith Panic** , I imagine that most of the time, the girls will mention they have a twin sister and the brothers will mention they have brothers named Cal and Ethan, and the whole misunderstanding would have been avoided! But that would have spoiled my fun completely. Thank you for your review - I'm glad you enjoyed it!

* * *

Ethan stumbled into the flat. The tears he'd tried so hard to hold back when he was driving were flowing down his cheeks in an unending stream. He'd met one of his neighbours on the way and had been forced to make up a story about watching two patients getting married on their deathbeds. He did such a good job of it, the neighbour was crying too by the time he'd finished, but he'd declined her offer to go into her flat for a cup of coffee and some chocolate cake. He'd been caught that way once before and had ended up locking himself in the loo and sending an urgent text for Cal to come and rescue him before she tried taking any more of his clothes off.

To his credit, Cal had and rescued him very quickly, but he'd also told the whole ED that he found Ethan with an incorrectly-buttoned shirt and only one shoe on.

Ethan shut the door and leaned against it for a moment, then he walked slowly into his bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.

He'd liked Emma so much. She was sweet and beautiful and seemed perfectly suited to him once they'd got the clubbing misunderstanding out of the way. He would have said she was incapable of cheating on anyone, but he'd seen it with his own eyes.

How could Emma have done it? How could either of them have done it?

As Ethan sobbed into his pillow, he spared a thought for Cal's girlfriend, Sarah. Ethan didn't like to think of anyone hurting the way he was now.

* * *

Emma just wanted Sarah to come home. She knew that if she phoned Sarah now and told her what had happened, Sarah would drop everything and rush to her side, just as Emma would if their positions were reversed. But Emma didn't want to ruin Sarah's date.

If it was a boyfriend Sarah had mixed feelings about, it might have been different, but Sarah really liked Cal. Emma could tell from the way her face lit up when she insulted him.

If Emma had any idea of what she'd done to upset Ethan, it might have been easier to bear, but Ethan just seemed to have turned against her for no reason. It was so unlike Ethan. Even if someone at the hospital had upset him, Emma couldn't imagine him taking it out on someone else.

On the other hand, she also couldn't imagine Ethan telling her to go away and never come near him again. Yet he had. And Emma's heart had shattered.

* * *

Cal was disappointed when the evening came to an end. He'd hoped Sarah would go clubbing with him, but she said she wasn't really in the mood.

"I'm really sorry," said Sarah, and she did look like she meant it. "My wrist's starting to ache a bit and I didn't bring my painkillers. If I go out with you, I'll only end up regretting it."

"Thanks a lot!" said Cal, but he was smiling.

Sarah shook her head, laughing. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

Cal pressed closer to her and spoke suggestively. "I could always go home with you."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," said Sarah. "If you come home with me, you'll only end up disappointed."

"Baby, you'll never disappoint me."

Sarah smiled. "Then I'm sure you're not disappointed that I'm going to go home. Alone."

Cal didn't think either 'yes' or 'no' would be a good answer to that question, so he kissed her instead. "How about tomorrow, you come over to my place and I'll cook you dinner? I'm a pretty good cook when I know what I'm doing. Then after dinner, maybe we could have some dessert?"

"Maybe," said Sarah. Her smile was teasing. "You'll just have to wait and see if I'm still hungry."

* * *

"Emma, what's wrong?" Sarah sat beside Emma on the sofa and put her arms around her. "Is it Ethan?"

Emma tried to speak. "He… he said… he told me…"

"It's okay," said Sarah. "You don't have to tell me till you're ready. I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere." _Except possibly to Ethan's house to murder him._

Emma sniffed and tried again. "It's over, Sarah. He doesn't want to see me anymore."

"Oh, Emma…" Sarah held her more tightly. "I'm so sorry."

Emma's voice was muffled by Sarah's shoulder. "He was going to come here, but I was feeling a bit better so I decided to go to the hospital to surprise him. He was sitting on a bench in front of the hospital. He was crying. I asked him what was wrong and he told me to go away and never come near him again!"

Sarah was confused. That didn't sound like the Ethan she'd met, or the Ethan Emma had described to her at least fifty times.

"I really thought he liked me," wept Emma.

"I know you did, Emma," said Sarah, as she stroked her sister's hair. "I thought he liked you too." Her voice hardened. "But he's not going to like _me_ by the time I've finished with him!"

Emma lifted her head from Sarah's shoulder. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing tonight because there's no way I'm leaving you," said Sarah. "But tomorrow, I am going to the hospital and I'm going to have words with Mr Ethan Hardy."

" _Dr_ Ethan Hardy," said Emma.

"Complete and total swine Ethan Hardy!" said Sarah.

* * *

Cal arrived home to find Ethan sitting on the sofa. "What are you doing home?"

"It's my flat," said Ethan. "I can come home whenever I like."

Cal went closer and saw that Ethan's eyes were red and puffy. "Have you been crying?" he asked, concerned. "What's wrong, Nibbles?"

Ethan's eyes filled with tears. "How can you even ask that after what you've done?" he asked, his voice choked.

Cal sighed. "You didn't find another mouldy coffee cup in my room, did you?"

"And now you're joking about it!" Ethan shook his head in pained disbelief and the tears spilled down his cheeks.

"I'm not joking!," said Cal. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to be joking about!" He sat beside Ethan and tried to put his arm around him. "Come on, Nibbles. Come here. It's okay."

"Get off me!" said Ethan.

Cal removed his arm, frustrated but still worried. "Ethan, what's wrong with you? Did you see Emma kissing another guy or something?"

"Don't you even MENTION that name to me!" said Ethan angrily. His fist shot out and connected with Cal's nose.

* * *

Emma sat and cried as Sarah looked through the texts she'd sent Ethan today. The twins been talking for what seemed like hours about what she could have done wrong, but Ethan's behaviour still made no sense.

"No, you didn't say anything wrong at all," said Sarah. She put the phone down on the sofa and hugged Emma. "I'm sure it was nothing you've done."

"Then why would he say that?" asked Emma. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd asked that question, but Sarah had tried to come up with an answer every time.

"He was probably just upset because of something that happened at work," said Sarah. "It must be really emotional, working in a hospital. Maybe sometimes it messes with his head and makes him say crazy things he doesn't really mean."

Emma sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Or maybe I'm just not the person he thought I was."

* * *

"Go away!" sobbed Ethan when Cal pushed open his bedroom door.

Cal was holding a bloodstained tissue over his nose. He spoke nasally. "Ethan, if you'd just tell me what's wrong…"

" _You're_ wrong!" said Ethan. "Everything about you is just wrong! You're a bad brother; a bad boyfriend; a bad doctor!"

"A bad doctor?" Cal sounded hurt. "How did you figure that one out? And I'm not a bad boyfriend. I admit I have been in the past, but I've reformed now. I really care about Sarah. I just wish I could be completely sure she cared about me."

Ethan glared at him through his tears. "If she's got any sense, she doesn't! You haven't changed a bit, Caleb. You're still the same lying, cheating, selfish scumbag, and I want you out of this flat by tomorrow!"

"I've heard that one before," said Cal.

"I know a way to make sure you never hear it again," said Ethan.

"What's that?"

"Leave right now!" shouted Ethan, and threw a pillow at Cal. "Now give that back! I need it."


	13. Chapter 13

**X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review - I'm really happy you liked the ending. I'm sorry you were having a bad day, but I'm glad my story helped. I hope you're having a better day today.

 **beckyboogle** , I'm so glad you're still enjoying it! Cal and Ethan are going to find out quite soon, but there are a couple more misunderstandings first. But I have no immediate plans to split up Cal and Sarah. Thank you for your review!

 **Tato Potato** , I'm glad everything makes more sense now. I have to concentrate quite hard when I'm writing the story or I end up getting as confused as Cal and Ethan! I'm glad you like Ethan and Emma as a couple. Thank you for your review.

 **ETWentHome** , thank you for your review. You're right - all it will take is one simple conversation and the whole mess can be sorted out! But things might get worse before they get better.

 **CBloom2** , I'm afraid Ethan is being irrational! And OOC. I mean, Ethan asking a girl out when he'd only known her for a couple of hours? As if! Thank you for your review - I'm really glad you're enjoying it.

 **Tanith Panic** , I love misunderstandings in fiction too. I'm not quite keen on them in real life, but this story is great fun to write and it's wonderful that it's giving pleasure to other people too. Thank you for your review!

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" said Sarah, as she sat with her arm around her twin sister. "I do want to kill him, but it doesn't have to be now. I can stay with you if you need me."

Emma didn't see how she could ever be okay again, but she nodded. "I'm fine. I just need to get over him."

"And he needs to get over himself!" said Sarah viciously.

Emma tried to laugh but ended up sobbing instead. "He just didn't seem the type to be horrible to anyone. He was so sweet! He's got those melting brown eyes and that fluffy blond hair and those adorable big glasses."

"Appearances can be very deceptive," said Sarah. "Where men are concerned, anyway. With us, it's much simpler. What you see is what you get."

"I suppose it's the same with Cal," said Emma. "He seemed like a complete flirt, but he turned out to be lovely."

Sarah nodded. She looked a bit guilty. "Cal might still turn out to be a rat," she said reassuringly.

"I don't want him to be a rat!" said Emma. "I want him to make you happy. I hope you get married and have babies and live together till you're 100. I'm really, really happy for you." She sobbed some more. "I've never been so happy in my life!"

* * *

The last thing Ethan felt like doing was working. He didn't want to do anything that could involve seeing Cal. He also wasn't sure if it was possible to work when your heart had been ripped out of your chest, but he knew he'd find out the answer to that very soon.

"Ethan? Are you okay?" was a question he was asked on numerous occasions by numerous people.

"I have conjunctivitis," was the reply he gave to all these questions, though he had a feeling that not everyone believed him. The problem with working in a hospital was that everyone knew what conjunctivitis was.

He managed to avoid Cal for the first hour, but it didn't last. Ethan locked himself in a toilet cubicle to have a cry and came out to discover Cal examining his swollen nose in the mirror.

Cal looked at him and sighed. "I thought that was you in there. Ethan, can't you at least tell me what I've done?"

"You know what you've done," said Ethan.

"No, I don't!" said Cal. He sounded almost upset. "I have no idea at all. But if you tell me, I might be able to fix it."

"There's nothing you can do to fix this. Ever." Ethan turned away, his eyes full once more. He wanted to lock himself into the cubicle again and have another cry, but he knew he mustn't keep his patients waiting any longer. He didn't think any of them were suffering as much as he was, but they all needed his help and he was determined to do his best. Even now.

* * *

Sarah stopped outside the hospital and tried to decide how best to do this. If she went in and asked for Ethan, she probably wouldn't be allowed to see him. Ethan was gorgeous (outside, if not inside) and he probably had random girls walking in and asking to see him all day. If they let all of them in, he'd never get any work done.

Though Sarah doubted he'd be getting any work done for a long time after she'd finished with him.

So, how would be the best way to do this? She could wait outside for Ethan, but he might not come out till lunchtime and possibly not even then. He might have an appointment in the broom closet with one of his colleagues. Or possibly more than one. (Sarah knew there was no actual evidence Ethan was seeing anyone else, but anyone who could break Emma's heart in such a cruel way was obviously capable of anything.)

No, she wouldn't wait for Ethan outside. She would go and sit in the waiting room with the patients. She knew from what Cal had told her that as well as saving lives in a place called Resus, the doctors also spent a lot of time working in cubicles with patients who were less seriously ill or injured. Sooner or later, Ethan would come to the waiting room to see the next patient – but instead, he would see Sarah. She'd take him outside for a little chat and then...

…well, Sarah wasn't quite sure what would happen once she'd got Ethan outside, but he was going to regret ever messing with her sister.

* * *

Cal wasn't sure what upset him the most. The fact he was being asked to leave his own flat (well, Ethan's own flat) was inconvenient, but nothing he hadn't survived before. The fact that Ethan wouldn't tell him what was wrong was also annoying, but again, it was typical Ethan. He really seemed to expect Cal to be able to read minds.

But there were a couple of things that _really_ upset him. Firstly, the state of his nose. All his patients were looking at him and smiling. Even the one who'd claimed to be dying and was on the way to Resus had had a good laugh at Cal's expense. Even Connie had looked like she might smile and she _never_ smiled. Not at Cal, anyway.

The other thing that upset him was the fact that even though Ethan was completely distraught and had cried in the loo on at least three occasions that Cal knew about (or possibly less than that if he'd also visited the loo for more conventional reasons), he was still doing a brilliant job. He'd been in Resus and everything and no-one had faulted anything but the state of his eyes.

Cal, on the other hand, hadn't cried once. He'd thought about it a few times: after all, it wasn't very nice being punched and insulted and evicted. Anyone would be. But he hadn't shed a single tear (apart from when he'd squirted himself in the eye with deodorant, which didn't count) but he'd still managed to get into a terrible mess both in cubicles and in Resus and it just _wasn't fair_.

After scalding his hand on some coffee, dropping and breaking the mug and then cutting his finger when he tried to pick up the pieces, Cal decided to go outside and take up smoking again.

* * *

Emma didn't know why Sarah wasn't answering her phone. She'd tried several times, but it kept telling her that the call couldn't be connected. Either Sarah's phone was switched off, out of battery or she was somewhere with poor reception.

As she was probably at the hospital right now, poor reception was a definite possibility.

At first, Emma had been grateful for Sarah's protectiveness and happy for her to go to the hospital to 'sort out' Ethan. She didn't want Sarah to beat him up or anything like that (and she didn't really think she would), but she couldn't help hoping that Ethan had a really good explanation for his behaviour and that he might tell Sarah what it was.

After spending half the night trying to think of something, Emma had finally come up with the idea that Ethan might have come into contact with a nasty disease at the hospital. When he'd seen Emma, he'd obviously have felt terrified she might catch it, so he'd told her to go away.

That would explain everything – but Emma had found she didn't really like that idea. She didn't want Ethan to be seriously ill. Or even worried he might be.

So Emma had come after Sarah and was now at the hospital, but there was no sign of Sarah outside and she didn't really want to go in and ask to see Ethan. She wasn't sure they'd let her anyway and just the thought of seeing Ethan made her eyes fill with tears.

When a man came out of the hospital, Emma's vision was too blurred for her to see who it was and she began to panic it was Ethan, but once she'd wiped her tears away, she realised it was Cal.

Emma thought Cal would know where Sarah was if anyone would, so she quickly went over to him.

Cal looked at her in surprise, then delight. "Baby! What are you doing here? You look gorgeous!" He put his arms around Emma and kissed her.

Emma was so shocked, she just stood there for a moment, letting him kiss her. He wasn't nearly as good at kissing as Ethan. Then she regained her senses and shoved him away from her, giving him a hard slap on the cheek. Except she missed his cheek and hit his eye instead.

Emma just had time to see his eye was already bruised and swollen (obviously, she wasn't the first person to catch Cal misbehaving) before Cal gave a loud howl and covered his eye with his hands.

After what he'd done to her sister, Emma wasn't a bit sorry.


	14. Chapter 14

**Tanith Panic** , thank you for your review. I'm glad you like the contrasts - I think Cal is more the emotional one in the series, but an unflappable Ethan wouldn't have worked. Yes, poor Cal! And for once, no-one could say he deserves it!

 **Tato Potato** , that sounds like a very good idea! But they've got to realise there's been a mistake first! Thank you for your review. I imagine being identical or almost-identical must be very confusing!

 **CBloom2** , Cal won't be on the receiving end of any violence in this chapter, but I can't make any promises about the next! Thank you for your review - I'm really happy you're enjoying it.

 **beckyboogle** , they do need to find out the truth and as quickly as possible! Ideally before Sarah gets any ideas about hitting Cal. Thank you for your review - I'm glad you like the intensity.

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review. I'm glad you liked Ethan not telling Cal what's wrong - it helps the plot along if he won't tell Cal, but I can also imagine Ethan doing it.

 **ETWentHome** , thank you for your review. When everything is sorted, I can imagine that Cal at least will enjoy the confusion, but for now, the situation is bad!

* * *

Sarah peered cautiously out from behind the pillar and satisfied herself that Cal had gone. It had given her a bit of a fright when her boyfriend had appeared (she'd been so caught up in thoughts of seeing Ethan, she'd somehow forgotten that Cal worked here too), but luckily, she'd managed to hide in time.

She hadn't failed to notice that Cal had swollen and bruised-looking nose and she was very concerned about him, but Cal would have to wait. First she would deal with the man who'd broken Emma's heart, then she would deal with whoever it was who had punched Cal.

Sarah returned to her seat in the waiting room and continued to watch out for Ethan. She didn't have to wait long. He walked into the waiting room, opened his mouth to speak… and then saw Sarah.

Sarah was surprised to see how different he looked. His hair was a messy and his face was red, as though he'd been crying. But Sarah doubted that was really the case and besides, Ethan didn't deserve her sympathy. Not after what he'd done.

Sarah marched up to him. "I want a word with you."

Now she was close to him, she could see Ethan had tears in his eyes. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said unsteadily.

Sarah took a step closer. "Now!" she said simply.

Ethan looked at her for a moment, but then he seemed to realise she meant business and nodded weakly. "Okay. We'll go to the staff room."

They walked together, in silence. Ethan opened the door for Sarah and she went inside.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" said Ethan.

"Maybe I will!" said Sarah. "Then I could have the pleasure of pouring it over your head."

Ethan stared at her.

"But that would be too good for you," said Sarah. "I know exactly what kind of man you are, Dr Ethan Hardy, and let me tell you that I don't like you. You probably think you're so clever with your medical degree; so handsome with your big, brown eyes; so funny and witty with your stupid jokes and puns. But you're not." She looked at him coolly. "You're just a stupid, worthless, cruel, nasty, idiotic, miserable specimen of a human being and if you ever come near my-"

She stopped. Ethan had tears pouring down his face. As Sarah watched, he put his hands over his face and cried as though he was never going to stop.

Sarah looked at him in consternation. She'd wanted to make Ethan feel small, but she hadn't meant for this to happen.

* * *

"What was that for?" exclaimed Cal, still holding his cheek.

"Because you're a two-timing rat!" said Emma.

Cal shook his head in confusion. "I'm not. I know I've got a little bit of a reputation, but that's in the past. I would never cheat on you, Sarah. I really care about you."

Emma stared at him in shock as she realised his mistake. "I'm not Sarah!"

"What are you talking about?" said Cal. He was starting to look annoyed now. "What's wrong with you? First you hit me, now you're saying you're someone else…"

"I'm sorry I hit you," said Emma. "I honestly thought you were cheating on my sister."

"Of course I'm not cheating on your sister!" said Cal. "I'm cheating on you!" He closed his eyes. "Oh God. No. I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm not cheating on you. And I've never even met your sister."

Emma looked at the red mark on his cheek where she'd slapped him and felt terrible. "Cal, I'm so sorry. There's been a big misunderstanding. My name's Emma. I'm Sarah's identical twin."

Cal laughed humourlessly. "Yeah. Good one."

"It's true!" said Emma. She thought for a moment. "Okay. Which arm is Sarah's bad arm?"

"Her right arm," said Cal.

Emma held up her bandaged left wrist.

"You could have switched the bandage," said Cal.

"But there's no bruising on this one," said Emma, showing it to him. "Cal, did you know you did my blood test for me?"

Cal sighed. "Sarah, of course I did your blood test. That proves nothing."

"No, you did mine," said Emma. "Ethan did Sarah's." She reached into her bad for her phone and found a picture of herself and Sarah. "There: look at that."

She saw Cal's face fill with amazement as he looked at the two identical girls. "Emma, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

* * *

Sarah wished Ethan would stop crying. She was starting to feel guilty and that was most unfair. A man couldn't go around treating Emma like dirt and then make Sarah feel sorry for him. It shouldn't be allowed.

Ethan was trying to speak, but it wasn't making any sense to Sarah. The only word she recognised was Emma. Sarah couldn't tell if he was saying he'd made a terrible mistake and he loved Emma or that he didn't care about Emma at all.

She sighed and handed Ethan a tissue. "I'm sorry if I went over the top. I didn't mean to upset you this much."

Ethan took his glasses off and started to dry his tears. He said something, but he was wiping his nose and Sarah still couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Did you have a really bad day yesterday?" said Sarah. "Sometimes, when people have a bad day, they do say and do things they don't mean."

Ethan sniffed and looked at her hopefully. "You didn't mean it, then?"

Sarah wondered what he meant and then remembered what she'd said to make him cry. "Not really. No. Everyone makes mistakes."

"It won't happen again?"

"Well… no." Sarah didn't think she'd have any reason to say it again. Emma's exes could do what they liked as far as she was concerned. It was only Emma's _boyfriends_ she expected to be on their best behaviour.

"Oh, I'm so happy!" said Ethan. He threw his arms around Sarah and placed his lips on hers.

* * *

Cal felt like a little bit of an idiot. He didn't know how he'd failed to realise that the girl in front of him wasn't Sarah. Emma was very pretty – beautiful, in fact – but she didn't excite him the way Sarah did. She was far more Ethan's type than his.

"Emma," he said. "You don't happen to be Ethan's girlfriend Emma, do you?"

Emma shook her head, her eyes filling. "I used to be. He doesn't like me anymore. He came to see me yesterday and he told me to go away and not come near him again."

Cal put his arm around her in a friendly manner. "Ethan was in a very strange mood yesterday. He punched me and wouldn't say why! He said I ought to know. I've been trying to think, but I haven't come up with anything. Until But now…."

"Yes?" said Emma eagerly.

"Sarah came to the hospital yesterday to meet me," said Cal. "We kissed. What if Ethan saw Sarah kissing me and thought she was you?

Emma stared at him in horror. "Oh my God, yes: I'm sure that's exactly what happened. So then I arrived a little bit later to see Ethan, but he was upset because he thought he'd seen me kissing you. So he told me to go away."

"And then he came home and punched me," said Cal. "He wouldn't tell me why. He said I knew. And if I had been kissing his girlfriend, I would have known!" He groaned. "Oh God."

"Are you in pain?" said Emma anxiously. "I'm sorry I hit you. I thought you were cheating on my sister."

Cal shook his head. "No, it's not that. I'm fine. But I just thought of something. Something awful."

"What?" said Emma.

"You just cheated on Ethan. With me!"


	15. Chapter 15

_This is the last chapter - thank you so much for all the lovely reviews, follows and favourites!_

 _Tato Potato and beckyboogle, I hope this was a good birthday present._

 **Tanith Panic** , there's not very much more chaos, I'm afraid - but I hope you enjoy what's here! Thank you for your review.

 **beckyboogle** , thank you for your review - I'm really glad you're finding it exciting! I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

 **CBloom2** , thank you for your review - you'll find out very soon if you're prediction is right! I'm glad you've enjoyed it.

 **X-Sammii-X** , I'm glad you like the ending - I thought of that very late on so it nearly didn't go into the story! Thank you for your review.

 **ETWentHome** , Sarah's confrontation with Ethan didn't go as planned at all! Let's hope Cal can help. Thank you for your review.

* * *

Emma stared at Cal in horror. "Oh, no. I did cheat on Ethan, didn't I? What are we going to do?"

Cal looked uncertain. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Oh, no, not at all," said Emma.

Cal looked a little bit hurt. "That's good. I suppose I didn't enjoy it either."

"Oh," said Emma, disappointed despite herself.

"I didn't hate it or anything," said Cal quickly. "It was good. It's just I have a bit of a thing for girls who kiss back."

Emma tried to console herself with the thought that at least Ethan liked her kisses. "Do you think we should we tell Ethan?"

"I think we should definitely tell him about Sarah so he knows you didn't cheat on him yesterday," said Cal. "The fact you technically cheated on him today is something we should probably keep to ourselves."

Emma thought, then nodded. "Yes. I think you're right. It would only confuse matters, wouldn't it?"

"Completely!" said Cal. "And matters are confused enough already. Come on: I'll take you to the staff room and then I'll go and find Ethan."

They went inside the hospital. Despite everything, Emma was curious to see a bit more of the place where Ethan worked. She had to admit the scream coming from one of the cubicles was a bit worrying and she wasn't overly keen on the guy who nearly vomited on her shoe, but it definitely didn't seem dull. She imagined Ethan rushing around, sorting everything out in his scrubs and stethoscope.

He must look very handsome when he was being efficient.

"I'm sure I do as well," said Cal.

Emma gasped. "Please don't tell me I just said that out loud."

"Okay. I won't tell you," said Cal agreeably. "But I suppose I can't really know what I look like when I'm being efficient. I usually leave being efficient to Ethan. Or Sarah." He smiled at the thought of his girlfriend. "She's amazing, isn't she?"

"She's the best sister in the world," said Emma, and walked into the staff room to discover her sister kissing her boyfriend.

* * *

After the first moment of shock, Sarah released herself from Ethan's hold and backed away from him. She trod on something and decided it must be a cushion.

"Ouch, that's my foot!" said a familiar voice from behind her.

Sarah turned to see Cal, his face screwed up with pain as he massaged his toes. "Sorry, Cal. By the way, this wasn't what it looked like." She glared at Ethan. "I stand corrected. You are a complete rat after all."

"Cal's always been a rat," said Ethan. "But it doesn't matter because you're with me, not him."

"Yes. We might need to have a little discussion about that," said Sarah.

Cal turned to Ethan and smiled. "Well, I never thought I'd see you kissing my girlfriend."

"She's not your girlfriend," said Ethan. He touched Cal's arm in a comforting manner. "I'm sorry, Cal, but she says kissing you with a mistake and it can never happen again. It's me she wants to be with. I'm sorry."

Cal turned to Sarah in alarm.

"Relax, Cal," said Sarah. "Ethan's just getting confused. Ethan, I meant that making you cry was a mistake and _that's_ what I don't want to do again. I didn't mean I wanted to kiss you."

Ethan started to cry again.

"Oh dear. I don't think I'm very good at not making Ethan cry," said Sarah.

"But I love you," sobbed Ethan.

There was another sob from near the door. Emma was standing there. Sarah started towards her, but Cal got there first.

He put his arm around Emma. "Don't worry. He doesn't really love Sarah. You're the one he loves."

Emma stopped looking on the verge of tears and looked on the verge of dying of shock. Cal helped her to a chair.

"No, Ethan, you don't love me," said Sarah patiently. "You love my twin sister, Emma." She turned Ethan towards Emma.

"Twin sister?" said Ethan. "You really think I'm going to fall for that?"

Confused, Sarah gestured towards Emma.

Cal sighed and started looking around the room. "Where's his glasses?"

"I think he put them in his pocket," said Sarah. She spoke as she might to a small child. "Put your glasses on, Ethan."

Ethan ignored her in favour of crying.

"Never mind," said Cal. He held out his hand to Emma. "Come on. Time to prove to Ethan that I've got this all figured out and he's being an idiot. Forgive me if I enjoy it. It's usually the other way round."

Emma walked towards Ethan. "Ethan, please don't cry. It's me. It's Emma. It wasn't me you saw kissing Cal yesterday. It was my twin sister, Sarah."

Ethan started and lifted his head. His eyes locked with hers. Then he turned to look at Sarah. "I suppose you think that's funny," he said.

"Funny?" said Emma, amazed. "Why would it be funny that you're hurting?"

"You've obviously been playing a joke on me all along!" said Ethan, distraught. "Have you been taking it in turns to go out with me?"

"Of course not!" said Sarah. "I've never been out with you because I've been too busy going out with Cal."

Finally, the penny seemed to drop. Or at least show signs of being dropped. "So... you're Cal's girlfriend Sarah?"

"That's right," said Sarah. "And we've actually met before. You did my blood test and I threw up."

"And Cal did my blood test and I cried," said Emma.

Ethan looked a bit worried. "Which one of you did I ask out?"

"Neither of us," said Emma.

"Oh God: don't tell me you're _triplets_!" said Ethan.

Emma shook her head. "No, but you still didn't ask me out because I did the asking out."

"Oh, right. Yes," said Ethan. "I remember now."

"Then I asked _you_ out," said Cal to Sarah. "And got what I wanted. _Everything_ I wanted."

They stared at each other in a soppy fashion which Sarah knew she shouldn't indulge in too often.

Ethan still seemed very confused. "But didn't you notice us calling you by the wrong names?"

"You called me 'Miss Mealing'," said Emma. "So you probably called Sarah 'Miss Mealing' too."

"I think Cal might have called me 'baby'," said Sarah, and smiled at him. "Very unprofessional."

Cal smiled back. "Extremely. I should be struck off immediately."

"Oh, definitely," said Sarah. "But it is a bit weird. How could you not know your girlfriends were sisters?"

"Did you know your boyfriends were brothers?" said Cal.

Sarah was shocked, but tried to hide it. "Considering you insisted your brother's name was Nibbles, no."

Emma turned to Ethan in confusion. "I thought your brother was called Caleb, Ethan."

"Cal is short for Caleb," explained Cal.

"Yes. I suppose it could be," said Emma, after a moment.

Ethan smiled round at everyone, his tears apparently forgotten. "So no-one's cheated on anyone - and this must be a happy ending!"

They all smiled at one another. Sarah moved closer to Cal, who put his arm around her. Ethan held both arms out to Emma and they shared a hug.

"How about we all go out for a drink?" said Cal. "That's usually what people do after a farce, isn't it?"

But Ethan shook his head. "We can't go yet. I've just thought of something. We need to repeat your bloods, both of you. There's a chance we gave the results to the wrong girl."

"You could be right," said Cal. "It might be that Sarah is the one who's slow to stop bleeding and Emma's the one who's susceptible to colds."

Emma sneezed right on cue.

"Nicely timed," said Ethan. "But I'm not sure the pub's a good idea, sweetheart. Why don't you both come back to our flat and I'll cook?"

Sarah looked at him with interest. "A man who cooks. Lucky you, Emma. Maybe I shouldn't have been quite so quick to push Ethan away."

"I can cook too," said Cal quickly.

"I'm glad to hear it," said Sarah.

* * *

"Did you mean it about loving me?" said Emma as she and Ethan said goodbye.

"Of course I meant it," said Ethan.

Emma linked her hands behind his neck. "Do you think you could possibly say it again?"

"I love you," said Ethan. it sounded even better when he wasn't crying.

"I love you too," said Emma.

* * *

"So, you _can_ cook," said Sarah approvingly.

"Some might say I'm a bit of an expert at turning the heat up," said Cal.

"Oh, I wouldn't have said that," said Sarah.

"No?" said Cal, disappointed.

"No. I think you need a lot more practice," said Sarah. "Starting now."


End file.
